Playtime's Over
by Angelic Candy
Summary: Now at thirteen,Andy's life has been isolated while harboring a dark past.His hopes lift when a foster family adopts him.However,his hope is soon burned by the reality of his continuing nightmare.His only option is to destroy Chucky once and for all.
1. Resurrection

**Playtime's Over**

Author's Note: _I've revised this chapter completely. I feel that since it took me so long to update this story, and because I began this story a couple years ago, I've improved with writing so I feel that I could make this story more believable. All chapters are now revised so any newcomers won't be confused, thanks!_

**Story note/summary: **This is what I think the third Child's Play should've been like. Andy is 13 now. Six years have passed since his last run-in with Chucky at the Simpson's. The unexplained murders revolving around him still state that he was involved somehow, but not necessarily saying he did them. He wants to start over again, but for six years now it's been impossible for him to get a foster family, due to the rumors concerning murders he had witnessed. Andy finds that his life may be turning around when a family actually agrees to adopt him. However, his hope is once again burned by the reality of his nightmare…

**Warning:** **Blood, violence, swearing, gore, twisted revenge…everything Chucky loves. **

**Chapter 1: Resurrection **

_Downtown police station: Clearwater, Florida. 11:45 p.m._

The station was quiet now that there were only a few officers around. Several were on duty and some were at home catching up on sleep. That's what he needed: sleep. Mark rubbed his eyes tiredly as he closed the newspaper. Another murder had happened in some alley. There was blood found—the killer was obviously sloppy. Ever since the hurricanes kept coming in stronger over the summer, causing quite a few people to become homeless or lose a lot, the crime rate had increased. The police force could only do so much to keep it at bay. The door opened and Mark wheeled around in his seat to see Calvin walking in.

"Hey, still reading that thing?" Calvin asked, gesturing to the newspaper.

"Yeah, unfortunately. It seems that people are starting to blame us for the increase in crime," he snorted, throwing the paper down.

"The people know what's going on. It's mostly the drunks doing the crimes, but there have been a few non-drunks involved. Did you hear the latest story?" Calvin asked, popping down and opening his can of beer.

Mark leaned back in his seat. "No, what?"

"The murderer from a week ago was found. It was some drunk-guy who had never before been an alcoholic until he lost his home to the hurricane. Anyway, get this. The man's caught and is being tried and he keeps saying that Chucky did it."

"Chucky? Who's that?"

"Come on, you don't know the story?" Calving asked surprised.

Mark shrugged. "Nah, so tell me.

"Well, this little boy named Andy Barclay was convinced his Good Guy doll was alive. He said it talked, walked and killed people. This was one of the biggest cases ever this year and definitely the most bizarre. So anyway, this kid was always at the scene of the crime. There were at least five or six murders he was caught at in total and he kept blaming them on his Good Guy doll. He said that the doll had been possessed by the soul of Charles Lee Ray."

"The lake-shore strangler?" Mark asked.

Calvin nodded. "Yep."

"So how old was this kid at the time?"

"He was six when the case first started. And the last time he was suspected again was six years ago, recently after he turned seven."

"What!" Mark snorted. "A six year old murderer! Come on, now."

"That's what I said! But there's absolutely no proof that anyone else was behind it. And I mean, come on, a kid that thinks his Good Guy doll came to life and killed people…there's got to be some mental instability there," Calvin said, taking a gulp of his beer. "Not to mention both times the Good Guy doll he blamed was destroyed."

"Maybe so, but any six year old thinks their toys can come to life. They bring life to them. I mean, they really don't understand. Trust me, I've got a six year old nephew and he's that way. In fact, he's even got a Good Guy doll."

"You better keep an eye on him then," Calvin teased.

"Shut up, you prick!" Mark exclaimed, throwing an empty can at his head.

"Ow! Hey, you don't have to get violent."

"Yeah, yeah. So, was this Andy case solved?" Mark asked.

"Nope, it's still a complete mystery. There's not enough evidence to prove that Andy did any of the murders, but there's nothing else to go on."

"Hmm…well, don't you find that odd that if he apparently killed people at six and seven he's suddenly stopped?"

"No, he could've gotten treatment," Calvin said. "Why?"

"Well, you said he blamed his doll, right? And you said each time the murders stopped the Good Guy doll was killed."

"What are you saying? That you believe his doll is alive?"

"No, I just find that to be strange," Mark said. "Did the cops pick up the doll pieces?"

"Yeah, the first time it was destroyed the Good Guy doll company had it put back together to prove to everyone that it was the kid's imagination."

"So where are the pieces now?"

"Actually, funny that you ask, they're in the new police station several miles from here. It was shipped here mainly because no one else wanted to take up the case anymore, it was just too bizarre and there are so many pieces missing they think it'll never get solved," Calvin smiled. "So now I guess the case is coming here."

"Well, since I'm off duty in ten minutes," Mark smiled, glancing at his watch, "I think I'll go take a peek at this 'killer doll'."

"Curiosity killed the cat," Calvin warned, shaking his finger.

Mark just smirked in response. "Good thing I'm not a cat then."

Calvin just laughed and gulped the rest of his beer down. "Alright, well I better get back on duty. Later!"

Mark waved to him and sat staring into space and tapping his pencil until he couldn't take it anymore. He'd have to just leave his duty five minutes early—that wasn't a big deal! His curiosity was really bursting inside of him. Getting into his car, he drove the twenty miles to the new police station where the new building was still being finished. Luckily, the doors were unlocked. Being in uniform, no one questioned him as he headed for the evidence room. He nearly bumped into another older man who was coming out of the room.

"May I help you?" he asked.

"No, I'm just here to pick up some evidence for a case I've been assigned to."

The man stared at him for a second before nodding. "Just shut the door when you're done. It's already locked."

Mark nodded and stepped into the room, relieved that he hadn't been questioned. Looking around, he approached the drawers where names were labeled on them. Searching with his eyes he spotted the name Barclay and immediately opened it. There was a large, clear plastic bag with pieces of what looked like gooey plastic.

"He wasn't kidding when he said the doll was destroyed," he muttered.

He examined it realizing that it seemed too burnt from some sort of acid to make out which part was which. Suddenly, he remembered his friend Alex had once worked for the Good Guy doll company. Perhaps he would know how to fix the doll.

"But I can't take it out of here if it's evidence unless I'm really assigned to this case," he whispered to himself, feeling disappointed.

He was about to put the bag back when he noticed something written by Andy's name. It read: _Case discontinued. _Mark couldn't believe his luck! The case had been signed off as unsolved and discontinued so no one was working on it, which meant he wouldn't be penalized for taking the evidence, unless he lost it or something. He was only going to fix it. Besides, since the case was discontinued, no one would even realize it was gone.

Holding the bag firmly in one hand, he closed the drawer then went out of the room, shutting the door behind him. As he made his way out of the building he took out his cell phone and dialed a number.

"Hey Alex, it's me. I've got a job for you. Yes, for tonight, it's worth it I promise. Okay, be there in about a half hour. Bye."

Hanging up as he reached his car, he gently placed the bag in the passenger's seat and took off for his friend's house. By the time he got there, Alex was already awake and taking out the beer from his refrigerator. He opened the door, allowing him inside.

"The moment you said it'd be worth it, I had to bring out the...what the fuck is that?"

Mark smiled and held up the bag full of the random, gooey pices. "This is the project that will be worth it."

"What? Staring at a pile of shit?" Alex retorted.

"No, this is the supposed killer doll from the Barclay case."

Alex's eyes immediately widened. "Are you fucking kidding me? How did you pull that off?"

"Apparently, the case is discontinued. Hey, how come you never told me about this case? This is the most interesting thing I've heard of from being in this profession."

Alex shrugged. "No one really talked about it after three years of when it took place. I think it just got old, especially because there was no other news about it, whether or good or bad it just…kind of died off. The cops gave up, the kid was taken to an orphanage in a different state, and nothing else came up after the last incident six years ago. I suspect people just came to their own conclusions."

Mark nodded. "I guess so. It didn't happen in this state though, right?"

"No. That's probably why you never heard of it. I've traveled around enough so I heard about it through the news."

"Right. So, are you up for this challenge?"

Alex smirked. "Sure thing. It's too bad it's no where near Halloween. This would certainly be a treat. What exactly do you want me to do?"

"Well, since you used to work for those Good Guy dudes, I was hoping you'd be able to put this thing back together."

Alex sucked in a deep breath and blew it out. "Well…since I don't work for them anymore I no longer have the key to the place. And that's where we'd need to go. I don't have anything around here to worth with. Umm…I think Bernie might still be there, let me give him a call."

Mark nodded, feeling excitement flow through him. Alex was only a minute before he came back with a smile. Mark nearly jumped up in response and the two of them went to Mark's car to drive there. There was a small Good Guy's doll company in the area about an hour's drive away. During the ride, Alex explained that the Good Guy's doll company wasn't as successful as when it first came out, but surprisingly, even despite the incident with Andy Barclay, they weren't doing too poorly. That was why they could still afford to have factories in several states.

By the time they got there, Mark was already jumping out of the car. As they approached the building Alex knocked several times and an elderly man opened it. Nodding toward Bernie, Mark followed Alex inside.

"Just remember to close the door. I've already locked it," Bernie said. "You were lucky that you caught me when you did. I've got to leave now."

"That's fine, Bernie. Thanks a bunch!" Alex said, saluting him as he left.

"Now what?" Mark asked, trying not to sound impatient.

"First, I've got to peel off the melted surface and place new skin on him, so-to-speak. And then I've got to fix the hair and everything. Man, it surely had a number done on it. I mean, its head is basically gone. I can see the pieces of the eyes and stuff but we're going to have to basically mold it into a new doll."

"Mold it?" Mark asked curiously, as he watched Alex pour out the pieces.

"Yeah, it's this machine that can melt down plastic and then I'll just put it in the new machine that can reshape it into a doll. It's the molding machine. It's much easier than the old machines which just put the doll together piece by piece."

"Ah yes, the joys of modern technology," Mark grinned. "How long is this gonna take?"

"Hopefully with this new machine only a half hour or so. Not too bad, for the molding at least. Then I have to pain on its freckles again and put new eyeballs in. Not to mention he needs new clothes."

"Alright," Mark sighed. "Should I just read a book while you're doing this?"

"You read?"

"Very funny," Mark glared. "Just hurry up, please. I'm dying to see this thing in action."

Alex just shook his head in amusement. "You're acting as if it really is going to come alive or something."

Mark just raised his eyebrows as if to say 'it could happen' then went to go find something to do while Alex got to work. He hadn't been kidding when he said it would at least take a half hour. The molding machine was amazing, but it still took some time. Mark explored the factory a bit and saw the improvements of the new dolls. Apparently they could say a lot more now and kids could change them into different outfits. There were even girl Good Guy dolls now…or rather Good Girl dolls. Still, Mark wasn't exactly the intellectual type—he was more of the partier so waiting around just staring at machines wasn't exactly exciting.

When he came back around completely bored out of his mind, he saw that Alex was working on painting the face and putting the last pieces together. Excitedly, Mark approached and watched him work.

"Hey, could you go find some clothes for this guy," Alex said.

"Sure thing," Mark said, wandering off down some isles to try and find some clothes.

He wasn't sure where to look and couldn't seem to find any extra clothes, unless he wanted to open one of the boxes and take the clothes off the doll inside of it. Heading back to where Alex was, he decided he'd ask before opening a box. As he approached the spot where he left Alex still working, he found that the supplies were still there but Alex wasn't and neither was the doll.

"Hey, Alex, where'd ya go?" Mark called out.

No answer. Mark shook his head, turning around in each direction. Where could he have gone? He had just asked him to go retrieve something five minutes ago.

"Alex! Hey, asshole, get out here! I couldn't find any extra clothes!" he called out.

There was still no response. Mark walked around and stopped when his shoes squeaked. He glanced down to see a bunch of red splatters on the floor.

Mark snorted. "Fake blood huh? You trying to scare me by making me believe the doll got you? It ain't gonna work."

He waited and walked around some more with no sign as to where Alex could be.

"Come on, Alex, I'm not joking this time. Let's finish this so we can get back home and have some beer."

Mark began walking again and a stale stench caught him off guard. He immediately plugged his nose and looked around. He saw that the mold machine was on when he had seen Alex turn it off a little while ago so he approached it and realized the stench was coming from it.

"Hey Alex, man, I think there's something wrong with the mold machine. Seriously, you should come out here and take a look."

Sighing with frustration when he didn't get a response, Mark stared at the buttons to try and figure out how to stop the machine. He saw an open button so he pushed it. The doors to the mold machine opened and the stench got so bad Mark nearly gagged. He turned his head away for a minute, holding his nose and when he turned back his eyes widened in shock. Pools of red liquid, much like blood, were dripping out of the machine. Mark took a deep breath, wondering how Alex came up with this scheme.

"That's gross, Alex. Alright, this is creeping me out, you can stop now."

Looking around, he still got no response. Feeling a bit unnerved, Mark reached out and touched the puddle of red. It felt real…Shaking a bit, Mark brought it to his nose and smelled it. It certainly smelled like blood. His heart was pounding in his chest now as he reached for the tray inside of the machine and very slowly pulled on it. It dragged out and the red splattered everywhere, causing him to jump back. As he did, the tray came out completely and a figure slid out onto the tray. Mark let out a cry and covered his mouth when he saw Alex's body, hardly recognizable now. His skin had been melted and burned and his face was so distorted he could hardly tell it was him. Mark shook his head in disbelief and wheeled around, wanting to just run out of the place. His heart nearly stopped in his chest when he saw the doll standing in front of him, holding a very long metal rod, at least twice the size of its body.

Mark backed away, shaking his head. "No, t-this can't be," he stuttered as the doll's maliciously smirking face came closer. "I can't believe it…The kid…Andy was right."

The doll stopped five feet in front of him, the big, plastic blue eyes staring intensely.

"Well, I guess I'll give him a prize then," Chucky laughed.

Mark's eyes widened with terror at hearing him talk and say something that he shouldn't before Chucky plunged the metal rod right through his stomach. Mark gagged and clutched at his bloody stomach, eyes wide with shock and pain. A second later, he dropped down dead to the floor.

"After I kill him that is," Chucky added, sneering. He then looked down at his body and admired it. "I look fucking great, for a piece of plastic shit. That's going to change real soon though. Thank you gentleman for your help," Chucky's eyes latched onto the two dead bodies in front of him. "Now I can go find my best friend…Andy."

Laughing hysterically, Chucky walked toward the dead officer and pulled out his badge and key card.

"Hmm…officer of the downtown police station. Time to do a little investigating," he said, as he headed out of the factory and disappeared into the night.

**XXXXX**

_Foxrun_ _Children's Orphanage: Gilford, Connecticut _

The sun was shining brightly, illuminating the laughing children playing on the playground. The grass was so green and sky was so blue, it was almost…perfect; perfect for everyone inside the orphanage except for one young boy. Andy stared out the window of his room watching the kids outside play. It was definitely a better orphanage than the one that used to be owned by Mrs. Poole. It was much bigger, cleaner and it even had a playground in the back. Despite this, Andy was still unhappy. He had been there for six years now so he knew all the staff very well. They treated him nicely and everything, but despite that he was still unhappy.

Andy had so many reasons to feel unhappy. Ever since he had been separated from his mom when he was six he had been going to a couple foster homes, which turned out to be a complete nightmare. The Simpsons' house was the worst where Chucky came back and killed his foster parents, then tried to kill him and Kyle. He missed Kyle…She probably stayed in the area he had left because she felt comfortable there. She promised she would write, but the last time she had written was last year. He understood that she was busy now. She was about ten years older than he was so she had a couple jobs, an apartment now and was finishing up college. It took her longer because she hadn't had much money and still didn't have much. Still, he wished so badly he could see her. She was the one true friend he had.

He had met other boys and girls in the orphanage, but even those very few that he had befriended had eventually left once they were adopted by a foster family. Of course Andy wouldn't be adopted. So many people knew about his history with Chucky and many of them didn't want him in their house. Even though he hadn't seen Chucky the entire time he had been there, and nothing bad had happened that he was involved in, he still hadn't been able to visit his mother. Not only would it cost the orphanage to send him there, but the nurses at the institution didn't feel it was a good idea for him to visit her just yet.

_Just yet…?_ _It's been almost seven years since I've seen my mother. How can they think that waiting longer is going to make any difference? _

Andy held back his tears. It had been so long since he had cried so why should he start now? He had stopped feeling sorry for himself and just kept living day to day as if it were all the same. Time wasn't important anymore, it just seemed to pass. Even for his thirteenth birthday when the orphanage had given him a special "young teen party" as they called it, which they did for all those turning thirteen, he still hadn't enjoyed himself. He had forced himself to eat cake and play some games, but didn't smile and didn't laugh. He hardly even talked at all.

The doctor came around quite frequently to make sure all the kids were healthy. He had diagnosed Andy with a case of mild depression. He had been eight when he was diagnosed. It was unheard of for an eight-year-old to have depression, but he did. He was given some medication, but it hardly helped. The staff at the orphanage was just mostly afraid he'd kill himself or something. No matter how sad or upset or numb he had felt over the years he had never attempted to kill himself.

When he had first come to this orphanage it had been extremely hard to sleep. He had a severe case of insomnia. He had had nightmares over and over again about the murder Chucky had committed. Sometimes in his nightmares, Chucky had killed him too. The nightmares faded, but the terrible memories didn't. Andy luckily didn't have to go to a public school, being in an orphanage, and was tutored by several of the staff members along with the other children there. It was an okay life, he guessed, but more than anything he just wanted to be back with his mother, forget about Chucky, and start over so he could live a normal life.

A knock at his door made him glance up and one of the staff members entered his room. It was Ariel—a sweet, red-headed girl with gentle blue eyes. She was the only person Andy really talked to in the orphanage. He had met her three years ago when she came to work there. Her family was very wealthy, but she liked the feeling of earning her own money. Sometimes, she reminded him a little bit of Kyle, but she wasn't as tom-boyish. She was very sweet, pretty and someone whom Andy could trust. Soon after he had met her, he had told her the story of why he was there. He had asked her if she thought he was insane for believing his Good Guy doll was possessed and killed people but she had just smiled and shook her head. He remembered what she said: "There is always truth in what people say, even the ones people call crazy."

"Hello Andy," she greeted, smiling brightly. "Why aren't you outside playing with the other kids?"

Andy shrugged. "I just don't feel much like playing."

Ariel approached him and pulled up a chair to sit down beside him.

"Are you feeling sad again?" she asked, referring to his depression.

Andy shook his head. "No, I'm fine. I just…," he trailed off for a minute, but Ariel sat patiently and waited for him to continue. "I just really miss my mom. I mean, I like it here, but every day feels the same."

Ariel nodded in understanding, raising her hand to brush some of his bangs away. Andy's hair was shorter and different than what he used to wear around six and seven. He still had bangs and dark blonde hair with big brown eyes, but he looked older. In fact, he did look a bit young to be thirteen.

"I know that it can sometimes feel like a prison in this place, no matter how pretty it is. You just have to understand that it's not easy for orphanages to care for children these days. You were lucky this place had an opening for you, being one of the top orphanages around."

"It was because of my history. If I hadn't been suspected for murder they wouldn't have taken me in. They thought that because they're one of the richest orphanages in the U.S. that they would have enough medical help for me," Andy replied. "They haven't found anything wrong with me except for depression and it's not even severe depression."

"You're right," Ariel said softly. "So if there's nothing wrong with you, why do you keep yourself locked away in here? Why not try and enjoy yourself—act like you're starting over?"

Andy shook his head gently. "I can't…I can't because I feel all alone. I know I have you to talk to, but you're really busy some days working around here or on vacation with your family. I have no friends here and those that I did make friends with are gone. I can't visit my mom and even I can't even get a temporary foster family, not that I really want one. If I were to start over, I'd want it to be with my mom, in a new house where I can go to a new school where no one knows about the rumors about me and where my mom can get a better job. That's what I want."

Ariel sighed and pulled him into a hug. "I know, sweetie. You just hang in there, alright?"

She released him, gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and headed toward the door. Before leaving she turned around once more.

"I'll bring you something to eat a little later since you missed breakfast, okay?"

Andy nodded with a hardly noticeable smile and watched as she closed the door. He leaned against the wall and went back to staring out the window. He had tried almost everything the doctor had suggested: writing, forcing himself to join in, nothing worked. The writing had helped in the beginning, but the owner of the orphanage, Mrs. Malkum, had been so appalled by what he wrote (mostly the details about the murders) that she had told the doctor it wasn't a good idea. She was frightened it would cause him to have a mental breakdown if he remembered such things. Andy wrote off and on since then, but hid the journal under his bed. Sighing, Andy walked back toward his bed and lay down upon it. He let his eyes flutter closed and before long he was fast asleep.

The knock at his door woke him several hours later and he rubbed his eyes tiredly. Thinking that it was Ariel he went and opened the door. There, before him, stood Mrs. Malkum. Although she was a kind, older woman, she was fairly strict and when she was mad got this stern look upon her face. She smiled down at him as Andy opened the door all the way.

"I see you've missed breakfast again," she said, staring at him. "Do you need to see the doctor again?"

"No, Mrs. Malkum, I'm fine. I just wasn't feeling well this morning," Andy said.

Mrs. Malkum just nodded. "Very well. I have some good news for you. Please, sit."

Andy sat down on his bed and Mrs. Malkum pulled up a chair to sit in front of him.

"Now Andy, you've been here for six years now, correct?" she asked, flipping through the papers in her hands.

Andy nodded. Mrs. Malkum then flipped some more asking him questions about his age, place of birth, medical history, things like that just to double-check to see if anything changed.

"Well, that's good to see things haven't changed and we're up to date," she smiled. "You'll be glad to know that there's a family interested in adopting you."

Andy blinked with wide eyes, looking fairly surprised. "A family wants to adopt me?"

"Yes. Mrs. and Mr. Jaques. See, being patient has its rewards," she smiled. "Now, because of your age you are welcome to choose not to allow the family to adopt you, if you feel you don't like them. You will get a chance to meet them very shortly. They'll be visiting tomorrow afternoon so I've asked Ariel to go out and retrieve a new outfit for you. You haven't got many clothes in the first place, so it'll be nice for you to have something new to wear."

Andy nodded, feeling a bit speechless. Mrs. Malkum stood up and tucked the papers under her arm.

"That's all I had to tell you today, Andy. I'm normally not supposed to say these things, but this family is fairly wealthy. I hear they've got a pool and everything," she smiled. "And you won't be alone. Apparently, they adopted a boy years back from a different orphanage. He's a bit older than you are, but it'd be nice to have a sibling, right?"

"Yeah," Andy responded, still not believing that he was going to be adopted.

"Well, you best come downstairs for lunch now. You're probably starving."

Andy nodded and quickly stood up, following her out. It seemed that things were finally starting to look up.

**XXXXX**

_Downtown police station: Clearwater, Florida. 3:25 a.m. _

An officer paced down the hallway for the umpteenth time oblivious to the door behind him opening as a small figure scurried inside. The room was the Detective's Bureau where there were several computers stationed around, holding valuable information. A small hand reached to turn one of the computers on. It had been a synch to sneak onto a bus that led him fairly close to the station. And then it was even easier to sneak inside the station and the back room using the officer's ID that he had taken.

Chucky hopped up onto a chair as the computer turned on. Once it had loaded up he clicked on the search button and typed in Andy Barclay. He waited as it searched and finally a match came up.

"Hmm…Connecticut? How the fuck am I supposed to get there?"

Chucky's plastic blue eyes narrowed at the screen. He felt like throwing the computer and smashing it on the floor. Suddenly, the door to the room opened and Chucky just barely jumped down and hid under the table as an officer walked inside.

"Ah man, Ashley must've forgotten to turn off the computer."

As the officer turned it off more footsteps came. "Hey, Calvin. I'm gonna head home now, you need a ride? Heard your car is in the shop."

"Nah, I'll just take a taxi, but thanks."

Chucky listened and waited for both of them to leave before crawling out.

"Hmm…a taxi. That's not a bad idea."

Sneaking toward the door, Chucky peered out making sure the coast was clear. Then he hurriedly made his way to the door and crept outside. He made his way in the dark toward the main street and found a telephone booth. Realizing he had no change, he spotted a homeless man with a can in his hands. Chucky approached a nearby trashcan, fishing out a broken glass bottle and hid around the corner. He hurled the bottle at the man, who was hit in the side of the head and collapsed on his side. Chucky sniggered and grabbed the can. He emptied the change into his jeans. Then he approached the booth and dragged the trashcan over to it, after kicking it over to dump out the contents, so he could reach the phone. He dialed information.

"Yes, I'd like the number for a taxi cab."

He heard the woman on the other line transfer him and he waited. When a person answered he asked for a taxi to meet him outside the area. He hung up and immediately searched through the garbage to find something to use as a weapon. He found another broken bottle with a very sharp piece of glass sticking out. Keeping this with him, he saw a taxi cab drive up. Very slowly he crept toward it and opened the door, sneaking inside.

"Good evening and where would you like to…go?" the cab driver glanced in his review mirror and couldn't see anyone in the back. "Uh…hello?"

Chucky suddenly came from behind his seat and held the bottle at his throat, with the piece of sharp protruding glass just barely touching his skin.

"Take me to the airport," he demanded.

The driver held up his hands in surrender, obviously stunned. "O-okay, sir. Right away."

He held the bottle at his throat the entire forty minutes to the airport. When the taxi cab stopped, Chucky pushed the glass bottle closer.

"P-please don't kill me," the driver whimpered.

Chucky laughed cruelly. "And why not?"

The taxi driver closed his eyes in fear and Chucky quickly dropped the bottle and ran out the door into the airport. It was a good thing the taxi driver never saw he was a doll or he'd be forced to spend more energy killing him. Chucky made sure to not be seen as he snuck toward the screen which told the flights and their destinations.

"Come on, there's got to be one going to Connecticut."

Chucky's eyes scanned the screen and suddenly he found just what he was looking for. The flight wouldn't leave for another twenty minutes, but he could sneak on-board ahead of time. He then headed towards the gate, making sure to keep out of the line of sight of anyone there. While the woman was busy on the phone and no one was yet in line, Chucky snuck past her and hid beneath her desk and waited. After twenty minutes, she finally called out to those waiting that they could come because they were now boarding. After she checked everyone's ticket she then made her way toward the door in order to close it. A noise startled her and she saw that her purse had been tossed a short distance away. Quickly, she ran toward it hoping nothing had been stolen. Chucky took the opportunity to sneak right past her and behind the door.

As he approached the plane he pretended to be just a toy and one of the flight attendants spotted him.

"Oh dear, it looks like a child has dropped their toy," she said.

Another flight attendant stared at it and nodded. "Well, there's nothing we can do. Just keep it up front and we'll figure something out later when the plane stops."

The woman nodded and placed Chucky on top of one of the cabinets near the front, not noticing as his eyes moved to watch her as she walked away.

_TO BE CONTINUED…_

**_Important note:_** **For those of you who haven't read this story before. The jump from this newly revised chapter to the next one won't make sense. So I'm sorry. You'll just have to wait until I revise the next ones, which hopefully I'll be able to do a chapter each weekend. Thanks!**


	2. Nowhere to Hide

**Playtime's Over**

**Chapter 2: Nowhere to Hide**

_Foxrun_ _Children's Orphanage: Guilford, Connecticut _

Breakfast on Fridays was what Andy liked best. It consisted of eggs, toast, cereal and muffins, but also there was a choice between donuts and pudding as well. Not only was it the food, but Ariel was there helping out in the cafeteria and occasionally she had time to sit down with him and talk to him. This Friday must've been extremely special or magical even because not only was he going to meet his foster family after having a really nice breakfast, but because of the extra helpers that day Ariel got off duty and stayed at the orphanage just to sit and talk with him.

"I'm so excited for you, Andy!" Ariel smiled sincerely. "Can you believe it! You're going to be adopted by Mr. And Mrs. Jaques. You really deserve it."

"Mrs. Malkum said they were really wealthy," Andy said. "But are they nice?"

"I've met Mrs. Jaques and she's a sweetheart. I'm not sure about Mr. Jaques, but I'm sure he's just as nice," Ariel said reassuringly. "Besides, there's a pool in the backyard and you get your own nice big bedroom," she winked.

Andy nodded with a small smile. "I know, it sounds great and all. I just…I hope I feel at home there."

"I'm sure you will sweetie. Don't worry so much," she said patting his arm. "Now eat your pudding. If you want, I'll even swipe you an extra one for later."

Andy smiled widely, a sincere smile that he hadn't had in a long time. That day so far was the best in his whole life, minus the years of ignorant bliss when he was living with his mom just barely surviving with enough food in the small, unkempt apartment. He missed her, but he had to admit the orphanage was a lot nicer than that apartment.

When breakfast was over, Andy went back to his room to change into the new outfit Ariel had gotten for him and finish packing up his belongings. A little while later, another staff member opened his door to tell him Mrs. Jaques had arrived. Andy felt the butterflies flutter around in his stomach, but went down the stairs into the main lobby where Mrs. Malkum was conversing with a young woman. The woman had long, straight black hair tied up in a bun and the prettiest blue eyes Andy had ever seen. She wore a semi-short, lavender skirt that ruffled at the bottom with a fancy white silk blouse. It was obvious already that she was wealthy. She had pretty diamond earrings and bright red lipstick. As Andy approached Mrs. Malkum spotted him and smiled.

"Ah, here he is. Andy Barclay."

Mrs. Jaques turned toward Andy and immediately she gasped, covering her mouth.

"Oh, he's just adorable!" she exclaimed, bending down to give Andy a tight squeeze.

Andy just smiled up at her shyly, feeling rather embarrassed. Mrs. Malkum nodded as Mrs. Jaques stood back up.

"He's a very well-mannered young boy. He cleans up after himself, follows the rules and does all his chores. Although he's quiet a lot of the time he's no trouble at all," Mrs. Malkum said, glancing over at Andy, who remained silent.

Mrs. Jaques just smiled brightly. "Wonderful! He sounds like an angel. Perhaps he could teach Cody a thing or two."

Mrs. Malkum laughed good-naturedly and then glanced back down at Andy. "Andy, Cody is the sixteen year old whom you'll meet soon enough. He too is a foster child and has been living with Mr. And Mrs. Jaques for about three years now."

"Yes, he was your age when he first came to live with us as well," she smiled. "He seemed to have adjusted quickly so I hope you do too."

"Thank you," Andy said quietly.

"Oh, he really is a doll!" she said, kissing his cheek. "I think that's all I need to see."

Mrs. Malkum nodded. "Andy, do you wish to go with Mrs. Jaques?"

"Oh, he doesn't have to decide right away. I don't want any pressure on him," Mrs. Jaques said immediately. "How about he stays a week and then makes up his mind on if he'd like to stay permanently or not?"

"Sounds reasonable to me. Andy, is that alright with you?" Mrs. Malkum asked.

Andy nodded and Mrs. Jaques clapped her hands together happily. "Wonderful! The limo's waiting outside for us dear. Ready to go?"

"Sure," Andy said, picking up his suitcase.

"Oh, no, dearie, let Arthur get that," she smiled, gesturing for a man in a suit to come forward.

Andy hadn't even realized he had been standing in the corner by the door. He appeared to be the driver. Andy's assumption was correct when he found that Arthur led them outside to the limo. Andy had never before ridden in a limo. He tried to conceal his excitement for he was still shy around Mrs. Jaques. They sat in the large backseat together and Andy waved goodbye to Ariel, Mrs. Malkum and the others that stood outside waving at him. He was going to truly miss Ariel. Perhaps Mrs. Jaques would let him visit once in a while.

"So Andy, tell me, do you like sports?"

Andy turned from the window toward Mrs. Jaques who was smiling at him.

"I guess so. I never really watch sports."

"Really? You've never been to a football or a baseball game or even seen it on TV?" she asked, surprised.

Andy shook his head. "No. My mom had a TV but we would never watch sports. The only show I ever watched was…," Andy trailed off, remembering how he had always watched the Good Guy cartoons.

Mrs. Jaques noticed his sudden silence and just reached over and patted his hand. "Oh, don't worry. My husband loves games. He's taken Cody to plenty of them so you can tag along with them. There are lots to do so if you find you don't like something just let me know and we can figure something else out, alright?"

Andy nodded gratefully with a smile. She seemed extremely generous. Just then a phone rang and Mrs. Jaques dug in her purse and pulled out her cell phone.

"Hello? Oh Charlotte, how are you darling? Oh yes, I'm good. Yes! I'm coming back home with him right now. You should meet him, he's a doll! Oh, that's right...the party's next week, right? That's the week my husband's going to Florida to visit a friend. Oh, don't worry, Arthur and Maria will take care of the boys while we're gone. Yes, yes…oh really! That's wonderful!"

Andy turned to the window as Mrs. Jaques continued to talk. He hoped that the boy, Cody, was friendly enough, even though he was a few years older. Of course, anything had to be better than the Simpson's. Mr. Simpson had been really strict and mean and Mrs. Simpson had been alright. Mrs. Jaques seemed much better than either of them. No Mr. Simpson, no horrible school where he'd feel isolated from other kids and best of all no Chucky.

A little while later they pulled up to the house, but Andy thought it looked more like a mansion. It was huge! It had a circular driveway with a fountain atop the grass of the island situated in the center of the circular driveway. Then there was a short stretch of driveway leading up to the garage. There were tons of flowers out front and a beautiful willow tree by the side of the house. It was definitely the house of a very wealthy family. Arthur opened up the limo door for them and Andy stepped out, staring up at the house with wide eyes.

"Come on darling, I'll introduce you to everyone," she smiled, taking Andy's hand.

Andy was taken inside the mansion to see that it had a huge interior. The first room appeared to be a sitting room that they walked into with many cushioned couches and chairs with a nice fireplace and mantel and a picture of Mrs. And who Andy assumed was Mr. Jaques above the mantel. The few tables in the room had vases of fresh flowers that were probably changed weekly. It almost felt like he was walking into an expensive hotel. Mrs. Jaques took him all around the house, introducing him to a few of the maids and the cook and the puppy—a Samoyed named Sapphire, probably because of her pretty blue eyes. She was a large Samoyed with beautiful puffy white fur and was very friendly.

On the second floor, after the master bedroom, he was shown his room, one of the several guest rooms in the house. His room was just spectacular. There were toys all around and a huge bed in the center with lots of pillows and everything. There were posters all around of sports stars and a couple dressers. Not to mention there was a big mirror hanging low to the ground on the wall opposite of where the bed stood.

"And this is Cody's room," she finished, opening the door.

Right when she opened the door Andy saw the messy room with toys and comic books and such cluttering the floor. The bed was made, probably because of the maid, and there were posters of rock bands all around the room, as well as sports. There was a TV in this room with what appeared to be Nintendo hooked up to it where he saw a boy with dark blonde hair playing on. The boy turned, having heard someone enter and stared at her with harsh blue eyes. It was amazing how much his eyes looked like Mrs. Jaques. If he hadn't known that Cody was adopted he would've guessed it was her real son, even though he didn't have her hair color.

"Don't you ever knock?" Cody asked.

Mrs. Jaques just stared at him neutrally. "I see you haven't bothered to clean up your room like I asked."

"I thought that was the maid's job," Cody retorted.

"Yes, well I don't want her slaving away over you if you're not even going to make an effort. Anyway, you need to stop playing for a minute so I can introduce you to your new foster brother Andy."

Cody's eyes finally rested on Andy, not having seen him because the door wasn't opened all the way. Mrs. Jaques walked inside, pulling Andy along with her.

"Andy, this is Cody."

"Hi," Andy said quietly.

"Whatever," Cody snorted.

"Cody, that's not the tone of voice that is acceptable," Mrs. Jaques said firmly, crossing her arms. "Andy is to feel welcome and if you can't welcome him then you can stay in your room for the rest of the day. No pool, no watching sports and no dessert."

"What! That's not fair!" Cody exclaimed, standing up.

Mrs. Jaques just shrugged. "Then get a better attitude. Until then you can stay in your room. Come Andy, I'll show you the backyard," she said, gently pushing on Andy's back to get him to walk out the door.

Andy glanced back over his shoulder to see Cody glaring angrily and then he just plopped back down in front of the screen and started playing with his Nintendo again. Mrs. Jaques shut the door and led him back down the stairs and out the back door. Andy immediately caught sight of the pool, seeing that there was also a Jacuzzi nearby it. The backyard had a beautiful garden behind the pool as well and several lounging chairs.

"Sorry about Cody, he's not the most pleasant boy around," Mrs. Jaques smiled. "He has his good days though. I suppose it's a good thing this house is so big. If he starts acting nasty to you just ignore him and go elsewhere."

Andy nodded, not feeling the need to say anything more. He had really been hoping Cody was nice so that he could at least make a friend. That's what he missed most about being a kid was hanging out with friends. He hadn't had a friend in so long—a true friend that he could be a kid with.

"Um, excuse me Mrs. Jaques?" Andy asked tentatively.

She turned and flashed him a grin. "Just call me Ceceila, Andy. I know mom is a very uncomfortable word for you at this time, but Mrs. Jaques just seems too formal."

Andy nodded. "Um, Ceceila, I was wondering, am I going to go to a public school?"

"No, you'll be going to a private school, the same private school that Cody goes to. It's a wonderful school so I'm sure you'll like it—one of the best curriculums around. Just so you know it's a private Catholic school so you will have to wear a uniform and go to church with us, that's not an option, alright?" she asked with a smile.

Andy nodded and she gently rubbed his cheek. "Good. Now, you're free to go wherever you want to on the property and if you get hungry for lunch you can just go into the kitchen and Maria or someone there will fix you something. The only meal that is required for you to attend is dinner at six o'clock. Every night we have dinner at that time, except sometimes on weekends my husband and I may be gone, or the dinner plans might change, but I'll usually have Maria give you a note. I've got some errands to run, but I'll see you at dinner so we can all get to know each other better."

Blowing him a kiss, she then turned around and walked back inside. Once she was gone, Andy sat down in one of the lounge chairs and sighed. It seemed that both Mrs. And Mr. Jaques were fairly busy people. Why did they want to adopt kids? Mrs. Jaques was a very sweet lady but even though there would always be someone around she didn't quite get that Andy wanted a mother and a father—someone like his mom who was there for him all the time. Although, he had to admit the house was beautiful and at least no one at the private school would know his history. He just hoped that he didn't bump into Cody in any of the hallways. The boy definitely didn't seem very friendly. At least he had the weekend before his first day at school.

Andy stared out at the pool watching as the wind made ripples in the water. Well, he couldn't very well swim since he didn't have a bathing suit. Even though it was a huge house with plenty of places to explore he wasn't sure what to do. Being outside was relaxing so he decided that he'd look around the gardens. That way at least he wouldn't be inside where he could accidentally bump into Cody.

There was a beautiful batch of flowers at the side of the house nearby the willow tree. Smelling the fresh warm air and feeling the wind blow over him made him almost feel at ease. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad there. After all, they even had a dog—a cute, friendly dog that he could play with if he ever got bored. Dog's were always great friends even if they couldn't talk back. Andy decided to explore the front of the house since he really didn't get a good look at it before. He walked past the willow tree and turned around the corner of the side of the house.

"Oof!" Andy toppled backward as he bumped into something solid.

"Hey, watch it!"

Andy blinked and stood up quickly looking to see that he had bumped into Cody, the one thing he had hoped he wouldn't do.

"Sorry," Andy said quickly, making his way to pass by him.

"She just dumped you out here, huh?" Cody asked.

Andy stopped and slowly turned around to face him. Cody had his arms folded with a knowing smile on his face.

"What do you mean?"

"Ceceila, she just left you to dry," he said, raising his eyebrows.

"No she didn't. She showed me around the house and then told me she had some errands to run. She said she'd be back for dinner."

Cody rolled his eyes. "That's what she always says. If you hadn't noticed they're kind of wealthy."

"So?" Andy questioned.

Cody walked around him. "So, how do you think they got so rich? They're both extremely busy—hardly around."

"But Mrs…I mean Ceceila said that Mr. Jaques takes you out to sports games," Andy insisted.

Cody laughed. "Sure, once in a blue moon. He hasn't had time the past couple years. I've gone only twice since last year. Boy, you must be really gullible to believe that."

Cody walked past him and began walking away.

"Ceceila's nice!" Andy exclaimed, causing Cody to stop and turn around.

"Of course she's nice, but that doesn't change the fact that she's not around, does it?"

"You shouldn't be so selfish! We both have our own rooms, a huge house with plenty of food and even a swimming pool. We can go wherever in the house whenever we want to. It's much better than the orphanage!" Andy exclaimed, taking a deep breath.

He hadn't spoken that much to anyone in a long time. It actually felt good to shout. Cody just smirked at him and came closer.

"Fine, defend your beloved foster parents if you want to, but just stay out of my way," he said, shoving past Andy.

Andy stumbled a bit but didn't fall. He glared at the back of Cody's head wanting so bad to punch him in the face. Andy wasn't one to start fights, or get into them very easily but Cody's selfish and snobbish attitude really got under his skin.

Deciding he'd just go inside and take a nap, he walked back in the house, or mansion, and climbed the stairs to his room, thankful that he hadn't run into Cody again. He shut his room door, took off his shoes and climbed atop of the bed. Right when he lay down he realized just how exhausted he was from not getting a lot of sleep at the orphanage and immediately fell asleep.

When he woke up hours later, it was because someone was shaking him gently. Andy rubbed his eyes and sat up. A kind woman with gentle brown eyes and brown hair, with a bit of gray, smiled down at him.

"Sorry to wake you. Dinner's ready and Mrs. Jaques was asking where you were. I didn't want you to miss your first dinner here."

"Thanks," Andy said, climbing off the bed.

He followed her out and down the stairs into the dining room where Cody and Mrs. Jaques were already seated. At the head of the table was a very bulky looking man with deep red hair and brown eyes. He had a goatee and was still wearing his business shirt and tie, but not the jacket.

"Oh, Andy, there you are honey!" Ceceila smiled, gesturing him to come over and sit down.

Unfortunately, the empty chair was the one right next to Cody. Trying not to show his discomfort, Andy sat down in the chair and waited patiently as the cook served him his plate.

"Andy, this is my husband Jim," Ceceila gestured toward the bulky man.

Jim seemed to scrutinize Andy with his gaze. "Andy huh? You like sports kid?"

"Uh, yeah," Andy said stiffly. "But I don't know much about them."

Cody snorted and Ceceila gave him a look. "That's not appropriate at the table, Cody."

"Whatever," Cody mumbled.

"Don't you 'whatever' her, boy!" Jim exclaimed, giving him a dangerously stern look. "You'll do what you're told. You're just damn lucky we haven't given you back to that orphanage with the way you've been acting this past year!"

"Jim, please, not in front of Andy," Ceceila said quietly.

"Why don't you just give me back then!" Cody exclaimed angrily. "I bet you'd be happy then, wouldn't you?"

"Cody, sweetie, we love having you here, but you're just making things difficult. You always talk back, you hardly ever do your school work when we pay a good amount to have you go to a good school and we've given you plenty of chances to shape up. Now, it'd be really nice if you could behave at least for Andy."

Cody sent Andy a glare. "Oh, I see. So that's why Andy's here. It's so you can replace me with him!"

"Cody, don't be ridiculous!" Ceceila exclaimed. "Now please, eat your dinner quietly."

"I'm not hungry," Cody said firmly.

"THEN GO TO YOUR ROOM!" Jim barked, pointing his finger toward the door.

Andy jumped at the harsh tone, nearly dropping his fork. Cody angrily pushed his chair out, threw his napkin down on his plate and marched out of the room. Silence followed afterward and Andy was almost too afraid to look up from his plate. He heard Ceceila sigh heavily.

"I'm so sorry, Andy. I was hoping your first day would be better," she said gently.

Andy glanced up at her. "It's alright."

"That boy needs some sort of discipline!" Jim snapped. "He's way over his head and I don't have time to stick around and lecture him every day!"

"I know, dear," Ceceila said. "Please, can we talk about this later?"

Jim just grunted and went back to eating his meal. Andy couldn't wait for it to be over with so he could go up to his room. Luckily, dinner ended pretty quickly and Ceceila told him he could go wash up and get ready for bed. Being since it was only seven Andy knew that she just wanted him upstairs so she and her husband could talk. Sighing, he went upstairs, not bothering to take a shower since he hadn't really gone anywhere, slipped into his pajamas and snuggled under the covers of his new bed. He hugged his pillow tightly, feeling more comfortable than he had in years. Very soon he was fast asleep.

**XXXXX**

_Connecticut_ _Airport: 9:28 a.m. _

As the plane landed at the Hartford airport after about four in a half hours in the air, the flight attendant waited for all the passengers to get off before walking toward the cabinet where she had set a child's doll.

"What should I do with you?" she muttered aloud. "I suppose the guardian of the child already suspected they wouldn't get it back. It'd be impossible to find out who it belongs to. I guess I'll just take you home with me."

She grabbed the doll and made her way out of the plane, relishing in the fact that she was finally able to rest for a while. She'd have to stay in a hotel over night until morning, but at least she'd be off the plane. It was easy enough to get a cab, which took her to the hotel right near the airport, that way she wouldn't have a ways to go the next morning. There wasn't a line at all once she got there and already had a room ready thanks to the perks of being a flight attendant. The moment she got into her room she threw her luggage down, including the random doll she had stuffed in her suitcase, and immediately went into the bathroom to take a shower.

While she was preoccupied in the bathroom, the suitcase began to move. Slowly, the zipper slid all the way down and a head of red hair came up before Chucky jumped out of the luggage. Creeping toward the phone in the room he dialed the front desk number.

"Uh, yes, hello, this is your customer from room…231. And I was just wondering what city am I in?"

"_Uh…you're in Hartford, sir," _the voice responded from the other end.

"Thank you," he said, hanging up. "Hartford…and Andy's in Guilford…how am I going to get there?"

Chucky glanced at the bathroom door, his blue eyes narrowing wickedly as a malicious smirk appeared on his face. Heading toward the very small area where there was a tiny fridge and a counter, he opened drawers and was pleased to find there was some silverware there. The knife caught his eye. Without even closing the drawer, he held the knife securely in his hand as he approached the bathroom door. He pushed his small back against the wall in the corner by the door and waited patiently.

About forty minutes or so later, the door opened and the woman appeared in a bathrobe with a towel twisted on her head to dry her hair. As she stepped out of the bathroom Chucky slashed the knife right above her ankle bone. She cried out and fell to the floor in shock, turning over on her side as Chucky approached with the knife out in front of him. The woman's eyes widened so large and her mouth dropped open as she saw him. Chucky grinned and tapped the knife in his hand.

"My flight wasn't very enjoyable," Chucky said, sneering as the woman cowered and whimpered. "Perhaps you can make it up to me. Let's take a drive."

The woman looked like she was about to cry but Chucky pointed the knife toward her even as she stood up slowly.

"You're going to carry me out of here, got it?"

The woman took in a shaky breath and nodded fearfully, very slowly bending down to lift him up. Chucky made sure to keep the knife hidden between his body and hers but made sure she felt it against her skin.

"C-can't I g-get dressed?" she stammered.

"What for? After all, we'll have our own car," Chucky laughed cruelly. "And don't forget your cell phone."

The woman whimpered but did as she was told, grabbing her cell phone and carrying him out of the room and into the lobby. Chucky whispered for her to go outside into the parking lot. She knew she was getting some stares but couldn't do anything about it. As they came to the parking lot Chucky noticed a man about mid-forties getting out of his car.

"Go up to that man and tell him you need help," Chucky demanded quietly.

The woman glanced up at the man, gulped and shakily approached him.

"Ah shit!" the man cursed as he dropped his keys on the ground.

When he stood up he noticed her approaching and stared back, obviously staring at her state of dress.

"I-I need help," she stammered.

The man looked concerned. "What? Do you need to go to a hospital?" he asked, approaching very close to her.

"No, but you will," Chucky said. Before the man could blink, Chucky slashed his throat with the knife.

Blood oozed out and the man gagged, unable to scream or make anything except gurgling sounds. The woman began crying and shaking her head and Chucky just sneered as the man fell down, his eyes rolling in the back of his head.

"Now, lift him up and stuff him in the trunk. And make sure no one's close by!"

The woman's tears were streaking down her face, but she set Chucky down and lifted the man as best as she could. Chucky pressed the button on the keys and the trunk opened. She stuffed him inside after looking around to make sure no one else was in the parking lot or nearby. Still crying, she stuffed the man inside head first. Surprisingly, he fit just fine when his legs were bent. The woman shakily closed the trunk looking down at her hands which were covered in blood.

"Now get in and start driving," Chucky said as he held the bloody knife toward her until she got inside the driver's seat.

Then he climbed over her into the passenger's seat. She closed the door, trembling violently, and Chucky searched around for a map in the glove compartment. He found one and searched on it for Guilford. He turned the map around so she could see it.

"This is where we're heading," he said, pointing on the map. "You're going to follow this freeway and take the second exit, got it?"

The woman nodded, more tears leaking out of her eyes. Trembling, she started up the car and drove out of the parking lot. She headed toward the freeway, still trembling, but able to keep the car steady.

"Good. Keep going this way. We'll be on the freeway for about forty or so minutes before we see the exit for Guilford. Then it should be only about a fifteen minute drive to the orphanage."

The woman sniffled and licked her lips. "W-why are you going to an orphanage?"

"To pay a visit to my dear friend Andy," Chucky laughed, his evil high-pitched voice echoing in the car.

She glanced sideways at him. "A kid?"

Chucky sneered at her. "Yes, a kid! A kid who has been a pain in my ass since I met him. Now keep driving!"

The woman turned back to the road too frightened to say more. Chucky watched her carefully and kept the knife pointed at her at all times. Just as he predicted, they were on the freeway for about forty-three minutes before they saw an exit. She pulled off on the exit and Chucky told her which way to go. When they got onto Fox Run road, Chucky told her to pull off to the side of the road.

"Why are we stopping?" she asked fearfully. "We're on the right road."

"Yes…we are," Chucky sneered.

With one, quick hit into the back of her head, her face slammed into the steering wheel. Instantly, she was knocked out and collapsed in the seat. He then took the knife and slashed her throat, then placed the knife by her hand to make it look like a suicide. The police would no doubt think she killed the man in the trunk then killed herself. It was great to be a doll—he couldn't leave fingerprints.

"You should be thanking me. I normally don't kill people while they're unconscious," Chucky laughed aloud. "But I didn't want you to scream, not when I'm so close to finally catching that little shit."

Chucky grabbed her cell phone and dialed information.

"Yes, can you direct me to the Fox Run orphanage?"

He waited as it clicked and the phone rang again. After about two rings someone answered.

"_Hello, this is Mrs. Malkum of the Fox Run children's orphanage. How can I help you?"_ the voice from the other line answered.

"Yes, hi, I'm calling for an Andy Barclay. This is his Uncle Charles."

"_Andy? I'm sorry he's not longer here. I didn't realize he had any relatives close by. We were told the only relative he really had was his mother."_

"Uh, yes, I've been very ill for the past several years but I've gotten much better. I haven't seen him in years so I was hoping to track him down and see him," Chucky answered, thinking up a quick excuse.

"_I see. Well, I'm sorry sir but Andy is no longer here. He's been adopted."_

"Really? That's great. Could you possibly tell me where he's staying at?"

"_I'm sorry, sir, we're not allowed to give that information without legal proof that you are his relative. You could come by the orphanage if you'd like."_

"That's not necessary ma'am. I was just in town and thought I'd stop by and see him real quick. I'm not in town for long. Is there any other way I could see him, like at school or someplace?"

"_Well, actually, I believe he starts his first day on Monday at the private Catholic school on Meadowbrook road."_

"Thank you so much. I'll stop by the school and visit him."

"_You're welcome."_

Chucky hung up, sneering to himself. "Well then, Andy, Monday we'll see each other again."

Pocketing the cell phone, Chucky opened the car door and glanced back at the woman who was rapidly losing blood and soon would die without even realizing it.

"Thanks for the ride, toots," his cold, high-pitched laugh sounded before he slammed the door and took off for the school. There was no harm in getting there early and sneaking inside to check out Andy's record. After all, he'd have to know Andy's schedule in order to pick the perfect time for them to meet…again.

_TO BE CONTINUED…_


	3. Nightmarish Reality

**Playtime's Over**

**Chapter 3: Nightmarish Reality**

Andy tossed and turned in bed, dreading the next day when he'd go to school. The weekend had gone by uneventfully. In the morning he had woken up to find that Ceceila was by the pool sunbathing and Jim (Mr. Jaques) was in the backyard playing golf with some friends. Andy decided to let Ceceila know that he didn't have a swimsuit and the moment he told her she felt so sorry for not asking. Immediately, she sent Maria to go pick him up a swimsuit in his size. When Maria was at the store she called Ceceila's cell phone to ask Andy which design he liked better. He ended up choosing the bathing suit with flames coming up from the bottom. It was black with red and orange flames—Andy liked it immediately when she brought it to him. The shorts weren't too long or too short. After he had changed he swam in the pool for a bit, floating on the different kinds of floaters they had there.

By the time he got bored of swimming and basically playing by himself, Ceceila offered to teach him how to ride a horse. She was planning on going to her friend's house, which was an even larger mansion with a much larger land space so they could afford horses and a reasonably sized barn to keep them in. Andy went with her and got to see the place and also got to ride, very slowly, on one of the black horses. It was smaller than the others because it was the youngest there, but it was very tame. Andy had to admit, after his years of being so lonely and isolated and afraid that Chucky would come back for him, he hadn't had fun at all. This day was the most fun he had had in so long. He had actually laughed fully and carefree. It was great!

Ceceila introduced him to several of her friends who got together at each other's mansions quite frequently and talked over some wine, had a picnic, or did something fun together. Ceceila also worked with one of them, but Andy wasn't sure exactly what she did for her career. Her friends were nice and each one had called him adorable, or cute, or some name like that. After the horse ride they had gone back to the house and arrived just before dinner. At dinner, Andy was actually more talkative. Cody was just picking at his plate while Ceceila bragged about how sweet and polite Andy was and how well he rode a horse for his first time. Andy could definitely tell Cody was becoming jealous and angry but he didn't lose his temper this time around.

Sunday passed by even more quickly. Ceceila invited both Andy and Cody to go to one of her friend's son's twelfth birthday party. Cody obviously didn't want to go—he said it'd be a kid's party, but Andy just wanted to go out and do something so he went. It wasn't much of a kid's party at all. There was cake and games, like Twister and tag, but prizes could be won as well. Andy actually won a Nintendo game by winning first place in a race. They all had partners and had to carry this "magical wizard's stick" across the yard without dropping it, using only one hand at first and then by the time it got down to Andy and another boy named Patrick they both had to carry it in their mouths and run to the finish line. Patrick dropped his so Andy automatically won.

In the back of his mind, Andy realized he was probably a very good runner due to being chased by a killer doll, but he didn't let that ruin his fun. The cake was good and it was very interesting to see how many cool presents the birthday boy, Danny, got; so many toys, video games, clothes, normal games, everything that a boy could imagine. Andy didn't want to be sucked into the joys of living with a wealthy family by thinking about all the toys he could get. Even with his mom, while they were just holding their heads above water, he still had enough toys to keep him happy. And his mom even told him that no matter how they were living they were still a family.

By the time he got home Sunday evening he was pretty exhausted. After being cooped up in an orphanage for so long, those few events over the weekend had drained him. He wasn't used to so much excitement. At dinner time, he was the one talking the most about the party and he tried a couple times to get Cody to join in, but he just didn't seem to care. He excused himself early from dinner and went upstairs, but Andy didn't mind. He stayed for dessert and then went up to bed.

Once he was in bed he started dreading school. What if he got picked on? What if it wasn't any fun? Bad memories about the last school at the Simpsons' came back and made him worry. Maybe he should pretend he was sick. No, he couldn't miss his first day. After all, he couldn't miss the entire school year; he had to go to the school sometime so he might as well just go the first day. That way he wouldn't miss anything. Andy closed his eyes and fell asleep, hoping that school wouldn't be bad at all.

When he woke up around 7:30 in the morning he saw that someone had left out the school uniform he had to wear. It wasn't too bad, he guessed. It was black pants with a forest green tank top and a black jacket over it. Then there was a black tie to go with it. He found out that they didn't take the bus like everyone else, although he didn't know why he'd think they would. He and Cody were taken by Arthur, who escorted them in a very nice car with leather interior. Thankfully, it wasn't a limo. Andy would feel much too awkward. Unfortunately, he had to sit in the back with Cody since the driver was the only one supposed to sit in the front.

During the ride, Cody leaned over toward him. "Hey, just so you know we're not friends or brothers so don't go around telling people that, understand?"

Andy remained silent and just stared back out the window until they arrived at school. Cody was really beginning to get on his nerves. So far, Cody had been wrong about Ceceila and Jim not being there much. They were there the entire weekend and in fact, Ceceila had been making all these plans to do things with Andy and Cody during the week when they came home from school. As the driver let them out, Andy thanked him while Cody just hopped out and walked toward the school. Arthur smiled at Andy and tipped his head in response and Andy made his way toward the semi-large private school.

There were supervisors standing in front of the building for any new students so they could get their schedules. Once Andy got his he looked at it and noticed that English was his first class. Surprisingly, it wasn't too hard to find his class. It was just up on the second level right on the left. Being early, it gave him a chance to choose a seat. He decided the middle would be the best. Right as he sat down other students began filing in. He pretended to organize his books so that he wouldn't stare at the students coming in. He didn't want to seem strange. Once everyone was inside the teacher began the class and Andy found that he wasn't too far behind the other students, for being in an orphanage anyway. He hadn't really had the courage to speak to anyone so when lunch came around he just asked several boys if he could join them.

"Sure," one of them said, adjusting his glasses.

Andy thanked them and sat down, listening to them talk about the latest Nintendo games. He told them about the one he got and they seemed amazed—saying that one was really good. After lunch, he found that he didn't have a class with any of the boys so he waved goodbye and headed toward his class. As he walked up the stairs he heard laughter and saw a group of older boys throwing this nerdy-looking boy's backpack on the floor. One of the boys in the group was Cody. Although he wasn't doing anything to do the boy he was laughing with the other boys. Just as Andy thought—he was a bully.

Bullies didn't scare him. They were nothing compared to Chucky and the hell he went through when he was six and seven. Feeling determined, Andy walked over to the nerdy boy and offered him his hand.

"Thanks," the kid said, taking Andy's hand. "My name's Freddie."

"Andy," he smiled back.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" one of the boys asked, crossing his arms. "It appears you made a friend Freddie. I haven't seen you around here before."

"He's new," Cody said, smiling and staring at Andy.

Andy glanced over at Cody. "Do I know you?"

Cody's smile faltered and Andy stared back at the other boy in front of him. "Yes, I am new. My name's Andy."

"Well, Andy, I'm Matt. Perhaps you'd like to know that we don't tolerate it when others interfere with our business," the dark-haired boy smirked.

"Bullying people is a business?" Andy asked, sounding braver than he really felt.

Matt seemed to stare at him intensely. "It is here. And if you want to survive the year you might want to keep up on your studies."

The other boys laughed, including Cody, and Andy just turned around and faced Freddie.

"Come on, let's go."

Freddie nodded, grabbed his backpack and gave one last glance at the bullies before walking beside Andy.

"See you later, Freddie! New-kid!" Matt called from behind them.

With his back turned to the boys, Andy rolled his eyes. "Great. Just what I need: a bunch of jerks."

"It's not so bad, as long as you don't challenge them," Freddie said, adjusting his glasses. "If you're new, how come that Cody kid seemed to know you?"

"Unfortunately, we're foster brothers, but don't let him know I told you. Apparently, I'm to pretend we don't know each other while at school."

Freddie's eyes bugged out and he nodded his head. "I understand. Wow…so you live with the Jaques' huh? They're a really wealthy family. You're lucky!"

"Well you go to this school so your family must be wealthy too, right?" Andy asked.

"No, not really. I got here mostly on scholarships, but my parents aren't doing too bad. I think that's one of the reasons why those boys bully me is because they think I don't belong here. Their families are incredibly rich, as are you," Freddie said, smiling at him.

Andy just shrugged. "Yeah, well, it doesn't matter much to me. Hey, I have to go to the bathroom before I go to my class."

"Alright. I'll see you tomorrow then?" Freddie asked.

"Sure," Andy said, giving him a small smile.

Freddie waved to him and Andy walked into the closest boys' bathroom. Sighing heavily, he went into one of the stalls and went to the bathroom. He got out and washed his hands, feeling a bit uncertain about this new school. A squeak to his left made him turn around. Andy saw that one of the stall doors was moving a bit, as if someone had pushed on it.

"Hello?" Andy called out, feeling incredibly stupid and paranoid. It was probably just some other kid in there, or maybe the stall door just hadn't been shut properly.

Just because of his past, Andy was a very cautious person. Even after six years of finally not seeing another dead body, he was still making sure he was careful. Shrugging, Andy walked over to the towel rack and pulled on a piece to dry his hands. He turned toward the door and suddenly the trashcan flew out in front of door, tipping over with trash falling over. Andy jumped, startled by the loud thud it made. Taking several deep breaths he tried to calm his racing heartbeat.

"Honestly, Andy, you need to stop freaking yourself out over nothing," he muttered.

Approaching the can, he bent down to pick it up when suddenly a flash caught his eye. Before he could blink, the trash can was lifted off the floor and thrown right at him. He managed to put his arms out in front of him just before it collided with him, but the force of it pushed him backward. He stumbled and fell, scraping his arm on the floor. Andy groaned loudly, pushing the can off of him and slowly sitting up while rubbing his sore arm.

A loud, high-pitched laugh caused Andy's blood to freeze. He knew that laugh. Very slowly, Andy lifted up his head with wide, fearful eyes. His eyes locked onto Chucky standing in front of the door holding a pocketknife. Andy's mouth was partially open and he was beginning to tremble. His eyes were wide and his heart was beating furiously. It couldn't be real. It had been six years, why now? It wasn't happening again…not when he was finally getting his life back together and starting over. Chucky couldn't be back.

"Hello sport," Chucky grinned, tapping the knife on the side of his leg. "Did you miss me?"

Andy didn't answer. He was too frozen with fear to even move let alone speak.

"What's the matter, Andy? I thought you'd be happy to see me," Chucky said, lifting his arms as if in question.

Andy's eyes were hooked to the familiar, malicious face—the abnormally plastic blue eyes that were so much more alive than the last time. Andy could scarcely breathe now. He couldn't even bring himself to scream, not that it would help. He swallowed thickly trying to think of a way out. Chucky wouldn't kill him, obviously since he needed his body, but if Chucky took over his body now he'd not only be able to kill his new foster parents, but Cody as well, and try to take all of the money. He knew Chucky well enough to know that if there was money involved he'd find a way to get it. He didn't need money as a doll, but if he succeeded in taking over Andy's body he would need it.

"Thought you wouldn't see me again, didn't you?" Chucky asked, taking a step forward. "I told you it's not over. Not until I get your body."

Andy breathed in shakily through his nose, his hands trembling terribly as he tried to keep himself from hyperventilating. Chucky came closer and closer, a sadistic grin on his dollish face. Andy cowered backward, scooting back until he hit the wall. There was no where he could run. Chucky wouldn't kill him, but he'd hurt him if he had to. Andy's eyes glanced down at the trashcan then back up at Chucky who was approaching the trashcan. With fluid movement, Andy struck his leg out and kicked the trashcan hard. It rolled so fast that Chucky only had time to say: "What the—" before it collided with him, throwing him across the bathroom and hitting the wall by the door. The trashcan then rolled and stopped right in front of the door.

Andy jumped up and ran to the door. A hand lashed out and grabbed his ankle causing him trip and fall down. Andy knocked his head on the trashcan and he turned on his side as Chucky was now standing over him with the knife pointed in his face.

"Now listen, you little shit," Chucky seethed, glaring menacingly at him, "I've been trapped in this body long enough! Do you know how long I've been fucking trapped in this piece of plastic shit!"

Andy could only stare up at him with fear as Chucky kept him trapped on the floor.

"The last time you gave me so much fucking trouble I was fucking trapped in this body permanently!" he continued, bringing the knife closer to Andy's face. "I've got another chance and I'm not letting some little shit like you fuck up my chances at getting a real body!"

Chucky reached out and held the knife at Andy's throat while his other hand was placed on his forehead. Chucky's large, plastic blue eyes narrowed pleasurably as he sneered in Andy's face.

The door was suddenly pushed up against Andy's back. Andy winced and Chucky's head snapped up and glared at the door.

"Goddamn it!" he hissed, taking the knife away from Andy's throat. "This isn't over you little shit! I'm going to get you next time!"

Chucky then scurried away into one of the stalls and lifted himself up into the ventilation duct, which Andy hasn't noticed was open in the first place. That was how Chucky got into the bathroom. He heard voices from behind the door and slowly picked himself up along with the trashcan. A couple boys entered the bathroom a second later.

"Hey, what's the big idea, locking the bathroom?" one of the boys with red hair exclaimed.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to," Andy said quickly. "I tripped."

The one with brown hair rose his eyebrows but the red-haired boy examined him.

"Yeah, uh, you got a scrape on the side of your face."

Andy instinctively reached up and felt the swollen bump from when Chucky had grabbed his ankle and caused him to fall. He glanced in the mirror realizing it was too noticeable to hide from his foster parents.

"That looks painful," the brown-haired boy said. "Maybe you should go get a band-aid at the nurse's office."

"Thanks," Andy said, picking up his backpack. "I will."

He walked out of the bathroom and headed toward the nurse's office. With Chucky somewhere in the school he didn't want to take chances that he could follow him to his new house. He wasn't sure how Chucky found out which school he had just been placed in, let alone what state he was in. Unfortunately, it was what made Chucky such a clever bad guy when he was alive and as a doll. As he reached the nurse's office, he faked an ill expression. The nurse was just finishing up with another kid, a young girl, before she turned her eyes on him.

"Oh dear, what happened?" she asked, walking over to him.

"I fainted," Andy lied.

The nurse looked very concerned and nodded. "Alright. Come in so I can clean the cut and put a band-aid on it."

Andy followed her into the small room and was silent as she worked on him. It didn't take long and once she was done Andy glanced up at him.

"I still feel dizzy," he said.

The nurse sighed in concern. "Okay, we'll have to call your parents then. What are their names?"

"Mr. And Mrs. Jaques."

The nurse blinked and stared at him in surprise. It only lasted for a few seconds as she nodded and fished out a card to dial a number. Andy lay back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. He couldn't believe it…just when he had convinced himself everything was going to be alright and he would never see Chucky again, Chucky shows up right at school ready to take over his soul and steal his body. Would his nightmare ever end?

"Andy?"

He sat up, hearing the nurse's voice. "Yeah?"

"Your mom is coming to pick you up right now."

Andy's eyebrows furrowed. It took him a few seconds to realize she meant Mrs. Jaques. He nodded and lay back down. The nurse told him to rest until she arrived so that's exactly what he did. When Ceceila arrived and rushed into the room, Andy got up slowly and approached her. He was pulled into a very tight embrace and soon he was led out of the school and into the car. On the way to the house, Ceceila kept asking him question like has he ever fainted before, how is he feeling and others like that. Andy answered her truthfully and just told he was tired. He had never fainted before—it didn't count when a killer doll knocked him out. They finally arrived at the house and Arthur helped him out of the car.

"Are you sure you don't want anything to eat, sweetie?" Ceceila asked, feeling his forehead.

Andy shook his head. "No…but, I have something to tell you."

Ceceila glanced down at him curiously. "Sure, honey, what is it?"

"Well…I just…I don't like going to school because it reminds me of when I was taken away from my mom. I think…I think I just got really upset and that's how I fainted."

"Oh, honey," Ceceila said, bending down and rubbing his cheek gently. "Why didn't you tell me that?"

Andy shrugged. "You were being so nice to pay for school for me that I didn't want to hurt your feelings."

"You're such an angel!" she said, pulling him into a hug. "Now don't you worry, sweetie. You don't have to go to that school if you don't like. We can always pay tutors to teach you here at home, if that would make you feel better."

Andy's eyes lit up. "Really?"

Seeing the excitement and relief in his eyes made her smile. "Of course. I'll talk to my friend Mary, her daughter is home-schooled and they have a great tutor, alright?"

"Thank you so much!" Andy said, hugging her back.

"Aww," Ceceila cooed, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Now you get upstairs and go rest. I'll see you at dinner."

Andy nodded and immediately made his way up to his room. He felt so relieved now that he didn't have to go back to school. If Chucky didn't know where he lived then he was safe, at least temporarily. Chucky was too good at finding out any information he needed. Andy had to make sure that he didn't go away from the house much at all in case Chucky ever saw him roaming around and followed him. He didn't want Chucky to kill his new family—they were the best foster family he had ever had. Not to mention they were extremely wealthy and Chucky would certainly want to steal all their money.

At least now he had more a chance to think of a way to escape Chucky once again. He didn't want to leave his new home, but if he stayed his foster family would be in danger. Andy lay down, thinking hard. If he decided not to stay then he'd go back to the orphanage, but…would he be safe there? Sure, his foster family would be safe, but Andy had the feeling that Chucky knew about the orphanage.

He gasped aloud as a thought occurred to him. "That was probably how he figured out what school I was in. I hope he didn't hurt anyone there to find out that information," Andy whispered to himself.

Getting up from the bed, since he didn't feel tired, he decided he'd write in his journal again. He took out his journal, the one that no one had seen before; not even the doctors or staff at the orphanage. When the doctor that had diagnosed him with depression told him to write a journal about his feelings and memories, Andy began two journals. He had told the doctor he lost the first journal so he was given another one. One of them, he gave to the doctor which did have details about some of the murders he witnessed and how he was so sad that he couldn't see his mom, but nothing about a killer doll. His real journal, the one he kept hidden in his belongings, contained all of his memories, even the few before Chucky showed up. He explained in detail about the things Chucky said to him at six and how he told him that his name was Charles Lee Ray. It had everything—all the details of every single murder he witnessed and all the things Chucky said to him…everything. He even wrote the nightmares he had about the murders and about dying. The last entry had been from a few days ago when he wrote about how much fun he was having with his new foster family and what a beautiful mansion they had.

The journal did have some good memories in it, like good times at the orphanage, meeting Ariel, and other things, but mostly it was incredibly dark. If anyone just looked at Andy they wouldn't believe his past would be so dark, but it was. Andy sat back in his bed and opened the journal, taking out the pen he had kept from the orphanage.

_August 20th,_

_I've been so happy so far in this huge house with my new foster family Mr. And Mrs. Jaques. Just when I thought my life was looking up and I could start over, Chucky shows up again. He came at my school and cornered me in the boys' bathroom. I was so scared I couldn't even breathe. I thought maybe it wasn't real…like I was having a nightmare or something, but it was real. He made me trip and fall and now I have this scrape on my face. He kept swearing at me, calling me a little shit again and saying the f-word so many times. He's really angry this time. He doesn't want to be trapped in the doll again and now that he has another chance to get me I know he'll do anything to get me. He'll even kill my new foster family. They're not safe with me around. What should I do? If I tell them I don't want to stay, Mrs. Jaques will be so sad. And I do love it here…but I don't want them to die! I don't want anyone to die! Why do people have to keep putting Chucky back together? Why can't they just leave me alone! Why do they have to see if what I said is true? I hate people! I hate that they bring him to life again and make my nightmare come true again. What if he wins this time? I don't know if I'll die when he takes over my soul, or if my soul will get trapped in the body of the doll. Either way he'll get me and my life will be over. I wish I could see my mom, even if it's just one last time. I don't want to die without seeing her. _

Andy stopped the entry there realizing tears were welling in his eyes. He closed the journal and stared at it, feeling his fear consume him again. The door to his room suddenly opened and Andy jumped, stuffing his journal beneath his clothes as Cody entered. He saw Andy take his hands away from his belongings and look up. Cody crossed his arms, staring at him with an unreadable expression.

"So, I hear you fainted at school today."

"Who'd you hear that from?" Andy asked.

"Ceceila. She's been boo-hooing about you ever since I got home. She also says that you're going to be home-schooled now. Poor little Andy faints once and _he_ gets to be home-schooled," Cody said angrily. "You know I asked her if I could be home-schooled a year ago and she said no. She told me I'd just spend the day playing video games. Well, I guess I know who the favorite of the family is, don't I?"

"It's not my fault," Andy said, feeling angry that Cody would barge in his room making accusations. He had enough to worry about with Chucky, he didn't need this. "You know, she would treat you better if you treated her better. All you do is walk around with this bad look upon your face and treat everyone badly then you complain about how others treat you. Maybe if you actually did your homework she would have let you been home-schooled," Andy said, raising his voice as he got up off the bed. "And maybe if you weren't such a fucking asshole you'd have a much better time here!" he exclaimed suddenly.

Cody was staring at him with a new expression—shock. Andy couldn't believe what he had said…he had just used the f-word for the very first time in his life. He was angry, hurt and scared; his life was in danger as were the lives of others because of Chucky. No longer did he care about bullies, school, being adopted…life was just too important to waste away. Having been six years old when heard the f-word and the word bitch for the first time was bound to have an influence on him eventually. It was probably because of the rest of the pent-up frustration and fear inside of him that made him crack. Never before though had he ever sworn like Chucky did.

Andy just stared at Cody, not believing what he had just said to him. Just then, Ceceila walked into the room noticing them.

"There you are boys. Time for dinner," she said, glancing at Cody then at Andy. "Andy, sweetie, are you feeling better?"

Andy swallowed and glanced up at her and nodded. "Yeah, fine."

"Well, glad to see you boys are making an effort to talk to one another. Don't be late for dinner," she said, as she walked away, waving.

Andy turned back to Cody who had another unreadable expression, but a grim one.

"So…Ceceila's little angel really isn't an angel at all is he?"

"You don't know anything about me! You don't know the hell I've been through!" Andy exclaimed.

"You? Don't even talk about your supposed harsh life in front of me! I've had it worse I'm sure!" Cody exclaimed angrily. "You don't know what it's like to have parents who didn't want you so they put you up for adoption when you're five! You don't know what it's like to go through so many foster families who treat you like shit because you're not their real son! You don't know what it's like when you try to find a place to call home and realize that you'll never have that! And then when you do find a place to call home you're so full of anger and hatred that you screw everything up!"

Andy was taken back by the sincere hurt in Cody's voice. He could tell the boy had definitely been through a lot. It was hard to tell that Cody could be a nice boy when he put on such a cold front. Realizing that Cody had actually opened up to him, when he probably had never opened up to anyone, Andy stood speechless. He just stared at him as Cody glared back at him.

"So don't tell me your pathetic cry-baby stories!" he finished as he walked out of the room.

Andy stood in the silence of the room, holding back tears. "You…you don't know what it's like to have someone try to kill you."

It was almost a whispered plea, as if he wanted Cody to hear him. Cody was already too far away to have heard him. Again, Andy felt so alone. He couldn't tell anyone about Chucky…he would either be looked at as crazy again like Mrs. Simpson after she found Mr. Simpson dead, or he'd die. Either way, his hope had completely crashed and burned right in front of him. Very slowly, he trudged out of his room and down the stairs to face dinner. There was no other option—he'd have to leave.

_TO BE CONTINUED…_


	4. Cold Blooded Murder

**Playtime's Over**

**Chapter 4: Cold-Blooded Murder**

_Five days later…_

It had been a week now that Andy had been there. Sometime that day Mrs. Malkum was going to call and ask for Andy's answer; whether or not he wanted to stay. Just as Ceceila promised she had gotten a tutor for him so that he could catch up on school work without having to go back to the private school. Nightmares about Chucky and past murders began coming back to him, like the night before. It was déjà vu all over again. Andy wanted to believe that as long as Chucky didn't know where he lived that he would eventually go away. However, he knew better than that by now. If Chucky's time ran out he wouldn't just vanish he'd become completely human—a human soul trapped in a doll's body for all eternity. He would have all eternity to track Andy down and kill him and anyone else close to him unless he was destroyed first.

It was Saturday so he could sleep in without worrying about having to study with the tutor for much of the day. Not that sleep was possible for him anyway now that his nightmares were returning—both real and unreal. Andy lay in bed for the rest of the night after he had woken up sweating with tears streaming down his face. Around six in the morning he went to sit outside by the gardens and watch the sun rise. It was hard to not act happy around Ceceila when she was trying so hard to make time for both him and Cody. Cody wanted no part of anything, but Ceceila had brought Andy to a dinner party with her friend Mary on Thursday night.

Andy didn't talk much at all the entire night. And whenever Ceceila would glance in his direction he made sure to force a smile. He didn't want to leave, but he had no choice. Watching as the sky became brighter and brighter, Andy took in a deep breath. He needed to think about what he was going to say to Ceceila. Getting up, he decided to take a walk. They lived in a nice neighborhood so as long as he didn't go too far he wouldn't get lost.

He trudged along the road, feeling the familiar sadness return. He wanted so bad to see Ariel again. Sighing, Andy continued down the road lost in thought. He didn't realize how long he had been walking until he blinked and turned around. Luckily, he had only been going straight but he didn't how far he had gone.

"Maybe I should turn around," he whispered aloud.

Examining his surroundings, he noticed that he was a little ways from the house. The school was just up the road a couple of miles and the orphanage wasn't far from that. Remembering that there was a park nearby, he followed the path along until he saw a swing set in the distance. He jogged toward the empty park and sat down on one of the swings. He loved parks. They were great places to just sit and think. He hadn't gone to one in so long and it felt nice to just be by himself and feel the cool breeze on his skin.

Andy relaxed his muscles and closed his eyes, listening to the sound of the wind. He needed to remain calm and find enough courage to face Chucky once more. The crackling of leaves nearby caused Andy's eyes to snap open. He wheeled around in the swing and looked around. Leaves were all over the ground, though the trees hadn't begun to change colors quite yet. Andy took several deep calming breaths. It was time for him to get back now. Ceceila had probably realized he wasn't there and he didn't want to worry her.

Andy got up from the swing and began making his way back to the street. A twig seemed to snap from nearby and Andy wheeled around again, looking in every direction. Another twig snapped and Andy's head wheeled to the left. His eyes widened as something came whizzing at him.

"AGH!" Andy cried out as something hard hit him directly in the forehead.

He toppled over, feeling a bit dazed. Blinking several times, he tried to sit up properly. The park was silent except for his heavy breathing so Andy very slowly picked himself up. His feet headed backward and he made sure to keep his eyes open for anything out of the ordinary. It was then he saw someone standing a short ways away in front of a small shack. Andy cautiously walked forward, wondering who it was. It seemed to be a tall man who was slightly bent over looking inside the shack. Andy could only see the back of his head but he figured the man probably owned the house right by the shack.

"Excuse me?" Andy asked tentatively, as he approached a little closer.

Reaching out a hand, he tugged on the man's coat to try and get his attention. The man's head lolled back and his body lost balance. He tipped over nearly knocking directly into him. Andy screamed when he saw the man's face was all cut up, blood gushing out everywhere. He wheeled around and was suddenly whacked in the face. Andy groaned as he fell back onto the grass.

"Looks like I found you after all."

Andy lifted his head, blinking away the blurriness to see a shovel right by his face. Chucky was grinning over him and Andy could only widen his eyes in fear.

"Told you it wasn't over sport," Chucky grinned. "And now I'm done playing around. So don't give me any fucking trouble! Or…," his grin widened, "I'll have to hurt you."

Andy could barely move his mouth because his cheek was in so much pain. He could taste blood in his mouth and knew that a huge bruise was going to form sooner or later. His eyes glanced down at the bleeding corpse and he gulped.

"What are you lookin' at? It's not like you haven't seen a dead body before," Chucky snapped, approaching him. "That was a very nasty trick, Andy. The way you got away at school. I don't have time to chase you all over this goddamn town!"

Chucky threw the shovel down on Andy's stomach and he groaned painfully in response. It knocked the wind out of him and he felt Chucky's plastic skin on his forehead.

"You kids are so predictable," Chucky sneered. "The park Andy? I know how much you like parks."

Andy licked his lips nervously. "W-why did you kill him?"

Chucky's eyes glanced over at the dead body before resting back on Andy. "Why? To figure out where you live sport? Apparently, though, not everyone around here knows each others kids. Now, listen you little shit, if you so much as try and scream I will cause you so much pain you won't even be able to speak!"

Andy swallowed dryly, staring up at Chucky fearfully. "T-they know I'm gone. They'll come looking for me."

"Yeah, and when they get back you'll be a whole new you," Chucky laughed coldly.

He pushed Andy's head harshly down to the ground so his hand was more firmly on his forehead. Closing his eyes he opened his mouth to speak but Andy didn't give him a chance. He kicked Chucky off of him and turned himself over to get up.

"AHHHHH!" Andy let out a scream, falling back to the ground.

Something painful had sliced through his skin on his back. Andy's eyes were watering and he was clenching his jaw from the amount of pain throbbing through his nerves.

"I told you I would cause you unbearable pain," Chucky said, pulling on Andy's shirt as he turned him onto his back.

Andy cried out again as the wound touched the ground. Tears were

Streaming down his cheeks and he could scarcely breathe. Chucky's smirking face was above his as he placed his hand back on his forehead. Andy was taking many shallow breaths, barely able to stand the pain. Chucky suddenly closed his eyes and began chanting again, something that sounded like: '_aa di duay dembel aa'. _

"Give me the power I beg of you!" Chucky said loudly. "Laver merci a—"

Andy had grabbed the shovel and rapidly slammed it into Chucky's head.

"FUCKKK! Youuuuuuuuu little SHIIIIIIT!" Chucky screamed as he was flung down the hill unable to stop himself from rolling.

Andy wasted no time in getting up and running back the way he came. The pain in his back was so bad he cried out as he ran as fast as possible. He took a cut through some neighbors' yards so that he wouldn't stay on the street in case he left any marks that Chucky could follow. He ran and ran and didn't stop even when his lungs were burning from exhaustion and his back was throbbing so bad he wanted to cry. As he reached the house, he realized that his back was most likely bleeding pretty bad and if Ceceila saw it she would question him.

Slipping inside the house, he ran upstairs hurrying before anyone saw him. He was thankful it was still fairly early in the morning. He could hear someone in the kitchen but they didn't seem to notice him run up the stairs. He raced into his room and closed the door, breathing deeply. Finally, the pain hit him and he winced terribly while limping into the bathroom. Very carefully, he pulled off his shirt, sucking in a breath when the fabric rubbed up against the cut.

Andy stood in front of the mirror and turned as far as he could to see his back. He could make out part of a deep gash from what looked like a knife or something. It was probably the pocket knife Andy saw him with the last time. The skin around the wound was broken and blood was coming out. Luckily, it wasn't gushing out blood. Grabbing a towel, he slipped the rest of his clothes off and climbed in the shower in order to clean the wound. It stung painfully at first but after five minutes or so he got used to it and was able to keep under the water.

Once out of the shower, he put on new clothes and stuffed the bloody shirt and dirty pants into his suitcase and hid them at the bottom. Putting a hand to his chest, he could feel that his heart was still beating frantically as if afraid that Chucky would jump out of his closet and attack him. He knew Chucky would be furious with him by now because he was quickly running out of time. Andy knew that the last time he was put back together he had two weeks to get Andy's soul—specifically when there was a full moon. Fishing around in one of the drawers, he found the sports calendar that had been on top of the drawer when he had first slept in the room. The calendar had holidays written on it, special events and even when a full moon, eclipse, or anything was predicted to happen. He glanced at the date searching for a full moon symbol.

"Oh no…," Andy whispered, as his eyes set sight on the date of the full moon. It was in exactly five days, which meant on the fifth day at midnight, Chucky's time would be up.

Five days wasn't that long and since that day was already a quarter of the way over, he had less than five days. Although Chucky probably didn't know how many days he had left, he could probably feel it as each day went by that he had less and less time. By tomorrow Chucky would probably know that he only had a few days left. Andy squeezed his eyes shut, wanting to pretend like none of it was happening again.

"Andy? Andy, sweetie, are you up?"

Andy's eyes snapped open just as the doorknob jiggled. Ceceila walked inside, smiling once she spotted him.

"I just want to let you know sweetie that tonight Jim and I are going out to a party. It'll end really, really late so I want you and Cody to behave."

"You're leaving?" Andy asked, feeling his heart just about stop in his chest.

"Yes, we're going to head out in about an hour and we'll just see you in the morning. Marie will be here to watch over you two, but she has a lot of errands to do so she can't watch the both of you 24/7. You two will just have to ignore each other or play nice, alright?" Ceceila asked.

Andy opened his mouth to respond, but Ceceila didn't give him a chance. "Oh drat! I've got to get to the drycleaners soon! Honey, I'll see you later! Oh, yes, before I forget," she said, turning back around, "Mrs. Malkum is going to call sometime today to ask you if you feel comfortable being adopted so make sure to answer the phone. I do hope you'll stay!" she smiled softly, blowing him a kiss. "I've got to go say goodbye to Cody now. Ciao!"

The door closed and Andy stood there feeling like he had been hit with a hammer in the chest. If Ceceila and Jim were going to be gone and only Marie was staying with them that would leave the house very empty and very easy to sneak into. What if Chucky found out where he lived? What if he was able to sneak into his room in the middle of the night and take over his soul? Cody certainly wouldn't come running to the rescue and Marie probably would be sleeping since she normally went to bed early.

It was still early, but Andy didn't feel much like playing around or even stepping foot outside of the house. He was too petrified of what would happen if he did. So for the rest of the day he remained indoors, hardly talking at all and mostly staying cooped up in his room. Only when it was time for dinner did he come downstairs and grab his plate and then rushed back upstairs. His back was still in pain, but it didn't hurt as much as it did earlier. Still, he wasn't able to lie down on his back, so when he crawled under the covers of his bed he lay on his side. It was only nine o'clock when he got in bed, but he wanted the night to pass by quickly so he decided to go to bed early and prayed he'd wake up the next morning.

For a while, Andy lie awake in bed, listening closely for any unusual sounds. Even the slightest creak made him jump. Taking slow breaths, he pulled the covers up over his head and shut his eyes, hoping to just fall right asleep so he wouldn't have to be so scared. He didn't even realize he had fallen asleep until he felt someone shaking him violently.

Andy's eyes snapped open and he jumped up suddenly, feeling his heart racing. The figure that had been hovering over him stumbled back a bit, surprised by his sudden movement. Andy blinked in the darkness and waited for his eyes to adjust. He finally recognized Cody standing in front of him.

"Why did you do that?" Andy asked angrily, having wanted to stay asleep.

"I thought it was you making those strange noises," Cody said defiantly.

"What noises?" Andy asked.

Cody gazed at him for a second then looked at the door. "I heard a loud thud or something and I thought it was you trying to scare me."

Andy's throat constricted and he slowly slid out of the bed. "Well I didn't do it. I was sleeping."

Cody just shrugged and Andy could tell he was trying to hide the fact that he was scared.

"Um…maybe we should wake up Marie," Andy suggested.

"And what, tell her we're scared of the dark?" Cody snorted.

A loud crash from downstairs caused them both to jump. Andy glanced at Cody, who shared a similar look with him.

"It sounded like something breaking," Andy whispered, too afraid to raise his voice in the least.

Cody just nodded in agreement. Andy swallowed thickly and began walking toward the door.

"Where are you going?" Cody asked.

Andy glanced over his shoulder. "I'm going to go check on Marie. Stay here."

Cody was staring at him with furrowed eyebrows and Andy knew he was debating whether to come along or not. Being stubborn, as Andy walked out the door, Cody followed. Tip-toeing down the stairs, Andy glanced behind him to make sure Cody was close and then proceeded into the sitting room. He tried the lights just to double check if they were working.

"The power's still out," he whispered, glancing over his shoulder at Cody, who stepped up behind him.

"Yeah, I could've told you that," he retorted, though his voice was very quiet.

Andy took in a deep breath and stepped into the room, squinting through the dark. He could make out pieces of furniture but couldn't see anybody. His throat felt dry and he licked his chapped lips hoping that Marie was somewhere nearby. Heavy breathing sounded beside him and he turned to see Cody glancing around the room as well. A thump made Andy and Cody both jump and they turned in different directions.

"Where did that come from?" Andy whispered, his breath hitching in this throat.

Cody just shrugged, looking around. Andy swallowed nervously and walked out of the sitting room and into the kitchen. He hated kitchens since the incident with Maggie when he was six. Kitchens had too many knives and sharp objects that Chucky could use to his advantage. Hopefully the power outage was due to a bad electrical wire and that Marie was just sound asleep somewhere. Andy hoped, but his instincts were not agreeing with that thought. A sharp squeak made him wheel around and he saw Cody slip and stumble, just barely catching himself with a chair.

"Ow, shit! Damn slippery floor," he muttered.

"Are you alright?" Andy whispered as he walked over, his heart pounding in his chest. That had certainly startled him.

"Yeah, yeah, fine," he muttered wiping his hands on his past. "What the…what is this stuff?"

Andy blinked, still not used to the dark and stepped closer. Whatever Cody had slipped on was not only on the floor but now on his hands and his pants. Andy reached out and touched his hand bringing it closer. He smelled it and his breath hitched in his throat. The smell was all too familiar to him; it was blood.

"C-cody…don't move," Andy stammered quietly.

"What? What is it?" Cody asked, smelling his own hand. "Egh! It stinks."

Very carefully, Andy moved around Cody following the trails of the smeared liquid to around the large counter. He peered around the counter, facing the stove, and saw Marie lying face down on the floor with a knife sticking out of her throat and blood still oozing out of the wound.

"Andy, what…," Cody stepped behind him and froze when he laid eyes on Marie. "Oh my God…what the hell? Did…did she have an accident?" he asked nervously.

Andy bit his lip and then turned to face Cody. "It wasn't an accident," he whispered fearfully. Listen to me, Cody. You need to get out of here as fast as possible."

Cody's eyebrows furrowed. "What? What are you talking about? What do you mean it wasn't an accident? Did you know she hurt herself?"

"She didn't hurt herself," Andy whispered harshly. "Someone else hurt her."

Cody's eyes widened. "Wh…did _you_ do this?"

"No! I didn't hurt her! It's someone…," Andy trailed off glancing into his face. "It's someone who's after me, okay? Now just get out of here! I don't want him to hurt you too."

"Andy, seriously, this isn't funny," Cody whispered back, glancing at Marie's body. "We have to call the police and then Ceceila."

"The phones aren't working," Andy replied instantly, knowing very well Chucky would've cut off every means of escape.

Chucky wouldn't hurt Cody though as long as Cody didn't know about him and as long as Andy wasn't with him. Chucky wanted him and only him, so if Andy remained there then Cody would be able to escape with his life.

"I can't tell you any more otherwise you'll be in danger. Just run like hell out of here and don't look back no matter what, okay? Get to the nearest police station and stay there until Ceceila comes to pick you up," Andy said.

"Wait, aren't you coming?" Cody asked, confused.

Andy shook his head. "No, I have to stay here. Just go!"

Cody stood there for several seconds just staring at him. "What's really going on, Andy?"

"I told you I can't tell you!" he whispered in frustration. "Would you just go already? If you don't he'll kill you too!"

"Who will?" Cody asked.

"Get out of here!" Andy hissed desperately, pointing to the door.

"Not until you tell me what's going on!" Cody retorted, looking torn between confused, angry and scared.

Andy's eyes snapped to his left, having seen a flash out of the corner of his eye. In a matter of seconds he leaped in front of Cody, pushing him roughly.

"What's the big idea?"

"AHHHH!" Andy screamed as a sharp, thin knife sliced through the skin of his arm.

Wincing, he clutched at his arm, feeling blood dripping down quickly. The knife was impaled above his elbow and it was throbbing so painfully Andy couldn't hold back the tears of agony that leaked down his cheeks. He was hunched over, clutching onto the chair of the kitchen table and he saw Cody's frightened and wide eyes even in the dark.

"Andy…what happened? Where did that knife come from? Shit…you're bleeding a lot," he said nervously, grabbing the nearest towel he could find.

Andy muffled his cry as Cody placed the towel beneath his arm to catch the blood.

"I think you're just supposed to leave the objects alone right? How are you supposed to stop the bleeding?" he asked frantically.

"Cody, stop! Just…just go! I told you, I'll be fine," Andy winced. "Would you stop being so damn stupid? If you stay any longer you'll get hurt! Get out of here!"

A high-pitched laugh caused Andy's head to snap up and Cody stood rigid with fright. Soft footsteps sounded and Andy saw a small figure emerge from the dark, carrying in his hand a very large knife. Chucky walked forward and with the light from the street lamps outside, Cody was able to make out exactly what he was.

"It…it's a doll," he whispered in Andy's ear.

Chucky's face scrunched into a malicious grin. "Got a problem with that kid?"

Cody's face whitened and he was frozen with fear, unable to say a word. Chucky just tapped the knife against his plastic hand.

"I'm very angry with you, Andy. You made it difficult for me to find you," Chucky grinned, staring at him intensely.

Cody glanced at Andy, who just stared back at Chucky wordlessly, still wincing from the pain in his arm.

"You know him?" Cody whispered fearfully.

"Andy and I go way back," Chucky grinned. "It's a shame our relationship has to end so soon, but I need to get out of this fucking body before I go fucking insane!" he exclaimed. "And you aren't going to give me any more problems!" he pointed the knife toward Andy.

His plastic blue eyes caught sight of the knife impaled in his arm and he sneered. "Looks like it'll be hard to run with that."

"I'll come with you, Chucky…Just don't hurt anyone else, especially not Cody," Andy said, wincing again.

Chucky's lips curled upward and he laughed again, but he also tapped the tip of the knife against in chin in thought. "I suppose I don't have to kill him, as long as I get out of this damn plastic piece of shit! Maybe I should at least cut out his tongue so he won't say anything."

"He won't!" Andy exclaimed, as Cody's face paled.

"Well then," Chucky laughed coldly, "I guess it's time for me to have a new family. Lie down, Andy," Chucky smirked coldly, "otherwise he gets it."

The knife was now pointed in Cody's direction and Andy bit his lip, knowing he had no choice. Gasping as pain shot through his nerves, he took a few steps forward and carefully lowered himself onto the floor. Cody was watching with wide eyes looking back and forth between Andy and Chucky. Chucky placed his cold, plastic hand on Andy's forehead and at once Andy knew it was all over.

Suddenly the front door opened and laughter filled the room. Andy blinked, a terrified expression overcoming his features as he glanced at Cody, who wore a similar expression. Chucky's head snapped up hearing the sound, but before he could utter a word footsteps came toward the kitchen. Chucky suddenly froze, pretending to be a doll again and Ceceila and her husband walked inside.

"Oh dear, what's wrong with the lights?" Ceceila asked.

"I'm not sure," Jim relied, flicking the lights on and off.

Ceceila stepped forward and let out a sharp scream, clutching her chest.

"Andy? Cody? Is that you?"

Andy felt Chucky's hand tightening on the arm with a knife through it to get him to answer.

"Y-yes, it's us."

"Boys! What are you doing up so late? And why are you hiding in the dark? I can scarcely see you!" Ceceila exclaimed, putting her hands on her hips.

"P-please help us," Cody stammered.

"I'm sure you both can help yourselves to bed," Jim said, taking off his suit jacket.

"Come on you two," Ceceila said, approaching them. "Andy, what the…what's this?" she said, gesturing to the knife. "Are you guys playing some sort of fighting game?"

Jim walked over and peered down, squinting in the darkness with only the dim moonlight to help. "It sure looks real. How'd you boys do that?"

"I don't approve of fighting games!" Ceceila said harshly, grabbing the knife and pulling it out.

Andy screamed loudly in agony and rolled over, clutching his arm as Chucky rolled right off him.

"Andy, what—stop! What's the matter?"

"Andy!" Jim exclaimed, grabbing his sore arm.

Andy screamed out again as tears dripped down his cheeks and Jim let go immediately. He glanced down at his hand and then bent down to smell it.

"Jesus, this is real blood!"

"Oh my God!" Ceceila exclaimed, cupping a hand over her mouth. "Andy, darling, what happened? I'm so, so sorry. Baby, talk to me," she said, helping him up.

Cody was rigid and watching with wide eyes, keeping his eyes forward as if in shock. Ceceila glanced up at him.

"Cody! What happened to Andy? Were you boys playing with knives? God, Jim get some towels!" Ceceila shouted.

Jim quickly ran toward the drawer with towels. He gasped loudly as he slipped, just barely catching himself on the counter. His eyes caught sight of the still body in front of him.

"Ceceila!" he called back, staring at Marie. "I think Marie's been knocked out."

"She's dead! She's dead!" Cody screamed, standing up quickly. "She's dead and he's going to kill us all!"

"Cody, calm down," Ceceila begged, a frightened expression on her face. "No one's dead, alright?"

"He killed her and he tried to kill me!"

"Who, Andy?" Ceceila asked, glancing down at Andy who was still breathing heavily from the pain.

"No, the doll! The doll that's alive! Chu—UGH!"

Cody's eyes widened in shock as his mouth stayed open, getting cut off mid-sentence. Ceceila suddenly let out a scream that echoed so loudly. Jim, who had checked to see if Marie was alive, rushed over as quick as possible.

"Marie's dead, Ceceila! I don't know what happened…there's blood everywhere, and…," he trailed off as he noticed Ceceila was shaking horribly and was staring wide-eyed in front of her.

Jim's eyes looked to Cody and let out a sound of surprise as they saw the knife sticking through his stomach. Blood was oozing down and Cody was moving his jaw, trying to scream or let out some sort of sound. The knife made a sick sound as it was pulled right out of him. Cody let out a scream of agony and collapsed on the floor, shaking violently. Ceceila rushed over to his side.

"Cody! CODY NO! Cody, please!" Ceceila begged, bursting into tears as she lifted the boy into her lap.

As she brushed his sweaty bangs from his forehead, noticing the dribble of blood spilling out of his mouth, her eyes lifted up to see Chucky standing in front of her with the bloody knife in his hand. He had his all too familiar plastic grin on his face with cold, narrowed eyes.

"Hello, mommy," he sneered. The hand holding the knife suddenly lashed out, slicing right through her neck.

Her entire head didn't fall off, but most of it became unattached. Jim let out a scream, calling Ceceila's name as she fell right over onto the floor, blood spilling out everywhere. Cody was still taking ragged breaths, unable to move or breathe properly. Chucky sneered down at him and with one movement lifted the knife over him.

"NO LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Andy screamed, moving forward.

Jim suddenly grabbed him, preventing him from getting close. "No Andy!"

Chucky plunged the knife through Cody again, who gasped with pain, his eyes watering with tears. A second later his breath stopped and his eyes remained wide and staring up at the ceiling. Jim's eyes were fixed on Cody's unmoving body. He pushed Andy behind him, glaring at Chucky with all his might.

"Andy, run," he said firmly.

Andy shook his head, feeling the pain in his arm throb. Jim's eyes flickered behind him onto Andy.

"GO NOW!"

Andy jumped up and stumbled backward, unsure of what to do. He saw Jim pick up a knife from the drawer and Chucky stared at him, pulling the bloody knife out of Cody's chest.

"NO BODY KILLS MY FAMILY AND GETS AWAY WITH IT!" Jim roared, lunging at Chucky.

Chucky rolled out of the way of the attack, laughing hysterically as he scampered away.

"Where are you, you little shit?" Jim shouted.

"Over here, dick-face!" Chucky laughed just as Jim wheeled around.

Chucky threw a knife at his leg and it plunged right into his calf. Jim cried out in pain and slowly reached down and grasped it, wincing as he pulled it out. Blood dripped out of the fresh wound.

"ANDY I SAID RUN!" Jim yelled.

Andy jumped, having been hypnotized by the scene before him. His eyes rested on Cody and Ceceila's unmoving bodies. He glanced at Jim, who was breathing heavily and limping but still posed with the knife, ready to attack Chucky with everything he had.

_It won't be enough…it never is! It doesn't matter how angry he is, Chucky will win. He'll kill him too!_

Andy felt tears of pain well up in his eyes and it wasn't from the throbbing wound in his arm. This had been the closest place to feeling like home and now…

He wheeled around and ran toward the door, not even glancing over his shoulder. He couldn't watch; he had to get away! If Chucky got him too Jim's death, as well as Cody's and Ceceila's, would all be in vain. Andy nearly slipped as he reached the front door, but he threw it open and ran out, just as he heard Jim screaming in pain. Tears fell down his cheeks but Andy didn't stop running. He ran and ran even when his legs were aching and his lungs were burning. He didn't stop and he didn't look back. Even as he ran, he knew the endless nightmare would only become worse the closer it got to Chucky's deadline. He wanted it to end! A part of him wanted to have died with Cody and Ceceila and now Jim; he didn't want to fight Chucky anymore or watch any more people die! At the same time, he couldn't give up. He had to find a way to defeat Chucky and prove his innocence. He would find a way! That was the only thing that kept him going. And now, he only had one place to go: back to the Foxrun Children's Orphanage.

_TO BE CONTINUED…_


	5. Return of the Barclay Case

**Playtime's Over**

**Chapter 5: Return of the Barclay Case**

_Downtown Guilford, Connecticut Police Station 2:10 a.m. _

The phone rang loudly, cutting into the silence that was there before. Julie Goldstone glanced up from the paperwork she was doing, sighing irritably. No one else wanted the night shift so she and her partner Dan decided to do it. Now she was really regretting it.

"Dan, can you get that?" she called back to him.

"Yeah, yeah," he grumbled as he set his fresh cup of coffee down and picked up the phone. "Hello, Guilford Police Station. Whoa, calm down ma'am, what's this?"

Julie glanced up from the papers and looked back at Dan, whose expression had gone rigid.

"Okay, ma'am, we'll be right there. Keep him in your sight at all times until we get there."

He hung up the phone and grabbed his jacket.

"Dan?" Julie asked, worried.

"A Mrs. Malkum called from the Foxrun Children's Orphanage a few miles away saying that a boy named Andy Barclay came running back declaring that the family he had been living with had been murdered."

Julie gasped, awe-struck. "Wait, Andy Barclay?"

Dan gave her a look a nodded. "Yep. I didn't realize the kid was in our state. I've heard about this case; it's been going on for some time. Looks like it has landed itself on our doorstep. You can stay here if you have a lot of paperwork to do."

"No way!" Julie exclaimed, grabbing her coat. "I'm coming with you."

The two of them rushed out of the room and toward their police car. In seconds they were inside and with their sirens blaring, racing toward the orphanage.

"This is Dan Johnson calling for back-up. There has been a call about a murder in this vicinity with an eye witness named Andy Barclay, over," Dan said, into his walky-talky.

"_Copy that Johnson…back-up approved, over."_

"Eye witness states that the Jaques' home on 213 Meadowbrook court was where the murder happened, over."

"_213 Meadowbrook court, got it…Be there in ten minutes, over."_

Julie took in a deep breath, glancing at her partner. "Do you think the kid was involved?"

"Dunno. That's the rumor from what I hear, except they haven't had enough evidence to lock him up in any juvenile detention center. Who knows, we may actually be the ones to crack this case."

Julie tilted her head, staring at him with raised eyebrows but didn't respond. It took only ten minutes with Dan's driving to reach the destination. The first stop was the address the woman told him over the phone; the Jaques' home. They jumped out of the car and raced toward the front door. Glancing at each other, with guns out and ready, Dan kicked the door down.

"Police! Is anyone here?" Dan shouted, rushing into the room.

"UG! That smell!" Julie exclaimed, holding a hand over her nose.

"Smells like blood," Dan said, clenching his hand on his gun. "Let's move; back-up should be here any minute."

Julie stepped into the room shining her flashlight over everything. Dan was ahead of her and he walked into the next room.

"Uh, Julie…," he called.

Julie hurried and stepped into the room behind him. "Oh God!" she exclaimed, covering her mouth as her eyes saw the heap of bodies in front of her.

A woman with almost no head, a young boy and a man were lying down with blood everywhere. Dan put a handkerchief over his nose and stepped in further, making sure to avoid any blood puddles. He searched around the room examining it.

"Looks like one of the weapons is still impaled in the body," Julie observed, shining her flashlight on the man. "We can test for fingerprints."

"We can, but I doubt the murderer would have left the weapon if he hadn't used gloves. Unless the kid did it," Dan added, walking around the kitchen but avoiding the pile of bodies.

Julie shook her head, staring at the bodies with a disgusted look on her face. "I can't believe a young boy of eleven could kill so heartlessly."

"I believe he's thirteen and you never know these days," Dan said, peering around the counter in the center of the kitchen. "Great, looks like another body."

Julie's head turned in his direction and she walked over to where he was standing. Glancing down she saw the woman lying on the floor in a heap and shook her head.

"Unbelievable. Four murders in one night and the only suspect to go on is a thirteen year old boy."

Dan sighed heavily. "Yep. This is certainly going down as one of the most bizarre cases ever."

"And disgusting," Julie added, shaking her head as she glanced over at the other bodies. "This is just horrendous."

Sirens sounded in the distance and the two of them turned to one another. Carefully, they made their way out of the kitchen and outside where they saw cop cars pulling up one by one. Four of them pulled up and they saw their buddies Shawn and Dave get out of the car first.

"Hey, sorry we're late! Have you checked the house?" Shawn asked.

Dan and Julie nodded. "Yep, four bodies found brutally attacked."

"Shit, seriously?" Dave asked. "We scarcely get serious crimes, let alone murder!"

"Someone call an ambulance!" Julie called over to the other cops getting out of their cars.

"I'll do it," Shawn said stepping aside.

The other officers went inside the house and came back in several minutes cursing with shock and disbelief.

"Did you see that in there!" Adam shouted. "It's like a blood bath!"

"It _is_ a blood bath!" Amy exclaimed, putting her gun back in its holster.

"Didn't you say over the walky-talky that an eye witness was a boy named Andy _Barclay_?" Dave asked.

"So?" Amy asked.

"SO? Haven't you heard the story that's been all over the news in various states, mainly just where the kid came from?" Dave asked incredulously.

"I think I have," Adam said, nodding. "Is that the one with the kid with the killer doll or something?"

"Yep, that's the one," Dave said.

"Shit man! That case is in our state?" Adam exclaimed.

"A boy did this?" Amy asked doubtfully.

"Yeah, apparently this case has been going on since the boy was about six. He claimed his Good Guy doll went around killing people, but obviously since he was at every crime scene—" Dave began.

"Hey, we don't know anything yet," Dan intervened. "The case was never solved and Andy was never locked away because there wasn't enough evidence against him. Who knows, he could be covering for somebody. What we have to do now is call the chief and ask him what to do."

"I'll do that," Julie said, stepping aside for a minute.

"Ambulance should be here soon," Shawn added.

"Good, until then we should put some caution tape all around," Dan said.

The others nodded and they all went to their cars to get some, waiting for the ambulance to arrive. Julie walked over to Dan about five minutes later.

"Okay, chief says to sit tight he'll be down here in a minute. He's contacted the detective agency to send one down here as well. He also said that he wants us to go talk to Andy and get his testimony," Julie said, glancing at Dan.

"Shit! You guys are on the case, then?" Adam asked, wide-eyed.

"Apparently so," Julie said. "I think we should wait until early in the morning to question him. The kid's probably asleep."

"That's fine. We've got some work here anyway," Dan nodded.

Julie nodded and followed him to go help the rest of them out. All of them couldn't stop talking about the bodies in the house and wondering what really happened. Julie was so anxious she could hardly wait to go interrogate Andy to see if he seemed like the killer rumors said he was, or if he was just an innocent boy caught in a bloody nightmare.

**XXXXXX**

_Foxrun_ _Children's Orphanage 7:08 a.m. _

The bed wasn't comfortable no matter what position he was in. He hadn't gotten to sleep at all and it was already morning. There was no way he was going to get to sleep, not after what had just happened. He wanted to forget that it happened, but he couldn't get the images of Ceceila and Cody out of his head. It haunted him and he wished it would just go away. Andy shut his eyes as tears stung and threatened to come down. A knock at his door caused him to jump and he turned around.

"Andy?" Mrs. Malkum's shaky voice came from the other side. "Are you awake? Someone's here to see you."

"Come in," Andy said quietly.

The door opened and Mrs. Malkum stepped inside first followed by two people in police uniforms. Andy's stomach turned uncomfortably but he didn't let his gaze fall. A woman and a man approached him as Mrs. Malkum nodded to them and shut the door.

"Hello Andy, my name's Julie Goldstone," she said, holding out her hand.

Andy reached out shakily and shook it nodding.

"I'm Dan," the guy said, nodding. "Listen, Andy, we're going to have to ask you some questions about what you saw last night."

Andy nodded wordlessly.

"Can you tell us everything that happened that night?" Julie asked.

Andy hesitated, not wanting to relive the moment again, but he knew he had to. Taking a deep, shaky breath, he started from the very beginning when he woke up. He told them about Cody, about Jim and Ceceila leaving, about the lights going out suddenly, about Cody waking him up really late saying he heard a sound, about them finding Marie dead. Andy told them about how he was trying to protect Cody.

"Protect him from…your Good Guy doll?" Dan asked, intervening.

"Yes," Andy said quietly. "I know you don't believe me, but it's true! I would never have hurt them! They were the best foster family I ever lived with! And I tried to protect him, I did! I even blocked Chucky's attack!" Andy exclaimed, rolling up his sleeve to show the wound on his arm.

Julie immediately looked concerned and approached him, examining his arm. "You didn't tell Mrs. Malkum about this?"

Andy shook his head, wincing. "No, I didn't even think about it. I was really upset and…I…," Andy swallowed thickly.

"It doesn't look infected, but it's pretty deep," Julie said, standing back up.

Dan had his arms crossed with an uncertain expression on his face. "Did this Chucky guy hurt you anywhere else? I mean, if he's after you, wouldn't he have tried to kill you first?"

"He doesn't want me dead," Andy insisted urgently. "He wants me alive…to use me. And he did hurt me before that. He tried to get me the day before too."

"Where did he hurt you?" Julie asked.

Andy stood up carefully and lifted up his shirt, turning around to show his back. Julie gasped at the large gash across his back and she glanced over at Dan, while Andy's back was turned, and nodded toward him. He nodded back.

"Alright, Andy. We're going to take you down to the station to finish asking you questions, okay? You'll be safe there."

Andy didn't even bother to argue. He didn't want to be at the orphanage anyway. Chucky would most likely look there first.

"And we'll get your wounds cleaned up too," Julie added. "Come on."

Andy took her hand and allowed her to lead him out of the room. He was a little wary that the cops didn't believe him, but at this point he had no choice but to go along and pray Chucky couldn't find him.

**XXXXXX**

_Two days later…Hartford, Connecticut Detective Agency 8:10 a.m._

Marlek Winters was searching through papers trying to find the number. He was certain it was around there somewhere. He had been up all night on the case he was currently working on when he got a call from his friend Bob who worked at the Guilford Police Station. There had been four murders in just one night with a suspect named Andy Barclay. At first the name hadn't rang a bell, and he nearly laughed aloud when Bob told him the kid was thirteen, but then he searched through old magazine articles to find that he had read something years ago about that case. He had thrown it away as some sort of joke, but it was apparently a real case. He had called his chief just to make sure and was awed that the case had actually started when the boy was six. To him, it didn't matter how troubled a child was he couldn't ever imagine a six year old killer.

Bob had also told him a couple officers had already gotten the case. He was a bit disappointed because now that he remembered the case he really wanted it. A kid thinking his Good Guy doll was alive and killing people was just too good to pass up. He was itching to find out the truth behind it, especially since there were at least ten murders in that case, probably more. He wanted to call the Guilford Police Station and ask to speak to the officers to see if they could somehow get him on the case. Even though he was currently working on a credit card fraud case, he really wanted this one.

A knock at the door caused him to glance up. Before he could say anything it opened and a beautiful, dark-skinned woman walked inside. She smiled widely and Marlek nodded his greeting.

"Hello Shalice. What's a reporter like you doing here?"

"Oh nothing, just caught wind of some murders involving the kid who thought his Good Guy doll was possessed."

"How exactly? Wait, don't tell me, it's some reporter secret, right?" he asked sarcastically.

Shalice shook her head in amusement. "Nope, no secret. I was passing by the police station down in Guilford, just because I was there doing an article on the last case about the missing girl, and it turns out there's an even more interesting case over there. I think I'm the very first reporter to find that out. I could make a ton of money off of it."

"I'm sure you could," Marlek drawled. "Look, if you'll excuse me, I have an appointment."

"Oh, really? Where?" Shalice asked, blocking the doorway as she crossed her arms.

"None of your business," he retorted, trying to get past her.

Shalice just smiled up at him. "You aren't by any chance going to Guilford are you?"

Marlek's eyes narrowed and Shalice's smile grew even wider. "I knew it! You're just as interested in this case as I am! So you can't say anything about me being nosey, especially when you're not assigned to the case and yet you're planning to go down and investigate."

"I'm not going to the kid, Shalice!" he snapped. "I'm going to the morgue."

Before Shalice could open her mouth, he stepped right past her and walked down the hall without even a glance back. He got into his car and drove away, heading to the Guilford morgue. It took a little while to get there—about an hour—but once he was there all he had to do was flash his badge and walk inside. The morgue was attached to the one hospital in that area in the very back, which is precisely where he went. Just as he opened the door one of autopsy doctors was walking out.

"Oh gosh, you startled me! May I help you?" he asked, adjusting his glasses.

"Yes please," Marlek said, flashing his badge again. "I heard that the Jaques' bodies were sent here and I was wondering if you had anything to report."

He blinked. "I didn't realize they'd be sending an investigator so soon."

"I happened to be in the area."

"Very well, follow me. I was just about to leave on break, but I could update you on what we've found so far."

Marlek followed him into the room where several bodies were covered by sheets and lying on the tables. The stench was terrible, but he was a bit used to morgues to let it get to him. The doctor led him over to where he jotted his report down.

"We've examined the bodies of Ceceila Jaques and her adopted son Cody Jaques. Ceceila died instantly; apparently her head was almost completely severed off and Cody died from internal bleeding. It seems that he was stabbed multiple times; the first time, as you can see here in this photo, just scratched his lungs but didn't kill him. The second stab went straight through his heart here," he pointed.

Marlek's eyes narrowed, seemingly disgusted. "So, have any fingerprints been found on the weapons?"

"None, actually," he said, adjusting his glasses again. "We're doing a test again just to be certain."

"But Andy Barclay's fingerprints weren't on it, right?"

"No. It's possible whoever did this wore gloves, which is why we can't find any fingerprints, but we'll never know. However, there was something interesting that came up in the report."

"What's that?" Marlek asked curiously.

The man hesitated, leaning heavily on his left foot. "On one of the weapons, the same weapon used to kill the kid and Mrs. Jaques, since their blood was found on it, another trace of blood was also found: Andy Barclay's."

Marlek's eyes widened. "The kid's blood was on the murder weapon?"

"Yes and the police report that has been filed shows that he did have multiple wounds on his body. Now whether that means he was attacked by the murderer or not is obviously a mystery right now."

"Where's the kid now?"

"He's staying at the police station under the supervision of some cops. I believe Dan and Julie are the cops on the case that I met. They're keeping him there and they've sucked him dry with questions."

Marlek nodded. "What about a lie detector test? Have they given him one?"

The doctor blinked. "I don't believe so."

"What about the husband: Jim Jaques?"

"His body was only briefly examined. We haven't gotten into detail with his, but we're certain he died of the impaled object in his torso."

"It wasn't the same weapon?"

"No, the object used was a rod of some sort. However, we're not sure if he died of that or if he was still alive when his stomach was cut open. Either way, they're all dead, even the maid that worked for them. I think she died just after her throat was slit."

Marlek nodded grimly. "Thank you."

The doctor nodded and then proceeded to walk out of the room. "Just shut the door behind you it should be locked already."

Marlek nodded and quickly opened his mouth. "Just out of curiosity, was there a doll at the crime scene by any chance?"

The doctor stopped halfway through the door and thought. "No, I don't believe so. Why?"

"It's not important, never mind," Marlek said as the doctor left the room.

His eyes turned back to the tables. The maid's body didn't appear to be in there, but it was clear she was just as savagely murdered as the Jaques family.

"Who did this?" Marlek whispered aloud.

He turned to leave when a soft clatter caused him to wheel around. The pen from the desk was now on the floor. Marlek's eyebrows furrowed; his gut was giving him a bad feeling, but why? Maybe he should go to the police station and see if he could talk to Andy. A movement out of the corner of his head caused him to whip out his gun and point it in the direction of the bodies. His eyes widened in horror as he saw something moving under one of the sheets. It was the smaller figure, which had to be the boy Cody. There was movement, but that wasn't right…he was dead. The doctor had examined his body and clearly said he had died from internal bleeding.

Very cautiously, Marlek stepped forward with his gun still raised. He approached the table, staring at the body as if daring it to move again. The sheet rustled just slightly because of the subtle movement beneath it. Marlek's eyes kept steady as his breathing became more erratic. It had looked like the hand had moved. Reaching out a hand just to prove the body was dead Marlek grabbed the sheet and pulled it. He didn't even have time to blink as something lunged for him. A sharp object was thrust right through his left eye. Marlek barely had time to choke out a gurgled gasp before he fell down to the floor, his gun clattering nearby.

**XXXXX**

_Guilford_ _Hospital_ _5:30 p.m._

Shalice pulled into the parking lot, wondering why Marlek was ignoring her calls on his cell phone. Sure they had broken up a while back, but they had remained friends. And although Marlek disapproved of her methods of getting information for her articles, he still respected her. Now she was angry that he was ignoring her. Luckily she wanted to go to Guilford anyway to see if she could get an interview with Andy Barclay, but she had to stop at the hospital first. She had waited for hours for Marlek to call her back and finally she decided she'd have to go to him.

She went around to the front and walked in through the door. She walked to the front desk, smiling.

"Excuse me, I'm looking for a Detective Moore. He was supposed to stop in today at the morgue."

The woman behind the desk looked surprised and uneasy. "Um, well a detective did stop in today…"

"Did he leave?" Shalice asked, feeling annoyed.

"I'm afraid not, miss," the woman said nervously. "A detective was found dead in the morgue earlier."

Shalice's smile faded into a horrified expression. "W-what?" she choked out. "Was it Detective Moore?"

"I'm not sure ma'am. If you're a relative you can contact the police."

Shalice shook her head, taking in a deep breath. "Alright, thank you," she said bluntly before turning on her heel and walking through the door.

When she got outside she stood taking in deep breaths. "It couldn't be him, it's just a coincidence, he's fine…"

Shalice's eyes widened immensely. "If he was looking into the Barclay case and Andy's safe in the orphanage, then who killed him? Is it another murderer or perhaps the real murderer of the Jaques?"

She had no choice now; she had to go to the orphanage and talk to Andy right away! Andy was the only one who would know the truth and as long as he hadn't left or run away maybe that was evidence that Andy wasn't the killer, as long as the recent murder matched up to the other ones. Quickly, she slipped into her car and backed out fast, turning the wheel around as she hurried to get away. She only hoped she would be allowed to talk to him because for the time being he was the only lead.

_TO BE CONTINUED…_


	6. Captured

**Playtime's Over**

**Chapter 6: Captured**

_Foxrun_ _Children's Orphanage 6:10 p.m._

Shalice pulled up to the orphanage and rushed out of her car. She knocked on the door several times before an older woman appeared.

"Can I help you?" she asked warily.

"Yes, I'm here to see Andy Barclay," Shalice said, out-of-breath.

"I'm sorry, but he's not here anymore."

"Where is he?" Shalice asked.

The woman shook her head. "Unless you're a family member I can't reveal that information."

Shalice opened her mouth to retort but the woman had already closed the door on her. Angrily, she marched back to her car and slammed it shut. She tried to calm herself down so that she could think calmly.

"Where would he have gone?" she asked. "No one would adopt him and he's just not allowed to leave after being a witness to a cri…of course! He's got to be at the police station."

Shalice turned her car to reverse and backed up, speeding toward the main police station. It was her only shot. Several minutes later she was rushing up to the door and inside. She went straight to the main desk.

"Excuse me, is a boy named Andy Barclay here?" she asked.

"Sorry, but unless you're related to him you can't see him," the officer replied.

"No, please! It's an emergency!" Shalice exclaimed.

"I said I'm sorry ma'am," the officer said sternly.

"What's going on Pete?"

Shalice turned to see a woman with long blonde hair and blue eyes. She stared at Shalice neutrally.

"I'm here to see Andy Barclay," she said.

The woman stared at her suspiciously. "Are you a reporter?"

"Yes, but that's not why I'm here! Please!" she begged.

"Ma'am, come with me," the woman said, gesturing for her to follow.

Shalice didn't even hesitate as the woman took her in back toward an office. She followed her inside and the door was closed behind them. The woman sat down in her chair and gestured for her to sit down as well. Shalice noticed the name on the desk was Julie Goldstone.

"Why do you want to see Andy?" Julie asked.

"Because he's the only lead!" Shalice exclaimed, louder than she intended. "He's the only one who knows about the murders! He's the only who knows if…if…," Shalice took a deep breath to calm herself. "I just found out today at Guilford hospital that a detective was killed. My friend, Detective Moore, had told me he was going there earlier today."

Julie nodded. "I see. And you want to ask Andy if he knew who killed him, right?"

Shalice hesitated before nodding. "Yes, I did. So…was it him?"

Julie's eyes dimmed and slowly she nodded. "Yes, Detective Moore was murdered."

Shalice closed her eyes, not wanting to believe what she was hearing. For several minutes she sat in silence, but soon she glanced back up at Julie.

"Miss…"

"Sheldon; Shalice Sheldon," she answered.

"Miss Sheldon, I have a lot of work to do. I'm sorry about your friend, but I assure you we're doing everything we can to find out who's behind this. We have Andy here in custody where he'll be safe."

"So, he's here all night?"

"Yes, we have officers working 24/7, including me and my partner Dan. We watch over him, feed him, let him sleep, but most of all we keep him in sight. We've already questioned him so he doesn't need anyone else to do the same," Julie said softly.

"If Andy was here in your custody, and the murder happened earlier this morning, then he didn't do it, right?" Shalice asked quietly.

"So far Andy is not involved in that murder, miss. I'm really not allowed to give out any confidential information. I understand the detective was a close friend so that's all I can say," Julie said.

Shalice nodded silently. "I don't want to butt into your case at all, especially since I'm only a reporter, but…I think Andy's innocent, for what it's worth."

Julie stared at her and smiled softly. "I do too, actually. Dan's a little more doubtful, but I do. We will find out who's behind these murders and how Andy is involved or why he's been at every crime scene. It will take time though."

Shalice smiled sadly and nodded. "I understand. Thank you."

The seat moved back as Shalice stood up and headed back to the door. As she left, Julie sighed heavily and then went out to meet back with Dan. When she went in the back, however, Dan and Andy weren't there.

"Risa," Julie said, stopping her. "Where did Dan and Andy go?"

"Dan's having a lie-detector test done on him. They just left about a minute ago."

"Thanks!" Julie said, rushing away toward the end of the hall. She headed to the private door in the back and went through it.

The hallway led down to a separate room where the lie-detector tests were taken place. She knew Dan had wanted to do that from the very beginning, but Julie didn't want to scare the child. The lie-detector could read signs of stress and since he had just left the house where his last foster family had been killed she didn't think it was such a good idea. Now though, Dan seemed to think it was alright. She opened the door that said _keep out _and stopped short when she saw Andy sitting in the chair looking up at Dan nervously.

"Dan what are you doing?" Julie demanded.

"Julie, before you say anything I got permission from the chief," Dan said, holding up his hand. "Now, Andy, do you understand how this works?"

Andy glanced over at Julie then back at Dan and nodded. "Yes."

"Good, I'll start asking you questions alright? Some of them will be the same from the last time."

Andy just nodded and Dan began while Julie watched anxiously. She was starting to feel bad from the boy. After meeting him and talking with him, she just couldn't believe this sweet, young boy could be a killer. He didn't have any temper at all, no motives and overall he just seemed scared all the time. Perhaps he was being framed by someone…but if so, why would he tell everyone his Good Guy doll did it? Maybe he had been threatened into saying that.

A while later, Dan had finished and was waiting for the test results back. Andy was sipping hot chocolate and sitting down in a comfortable chair. Julie walked over to him and sat down next to him.

"Are you scared about that test?"

Andy shook his head. "No, I know that I told the truth. I'm just scared that no one will believe me, even if I pass the test."

Julie nodded and without thinking she reached a hand back to brush Andy's bangs away. He glanced over at her surprised but gave her a small smile. He really was adorable; too adorable. There was a chance he was just mentally ill and had a split personality, but his medical records showed nothing of the sort. The door opened and Dan stepped out of the room, finishing his discussion with the others inside. He approached the two of them and stared down at Andy.

"You passed the test," he said.

Andy nodded, feeling relieved. "Yeah, but that doesn't change anything. No one believes me."

"But this is good, Andy," Julie reassured him. "If you are innocent then this is proof. When asked if you killed anybody and you said no the lie-detector showed that was true."

"Yes, but when asked if my Good Guy doll came to life and started killing people I said yes and that was true too," Andy insisted. "No judge is going to believe that."

Dan's expression softened and he seated himself on Andy's other side. "Maybe not, but we don't have to include that in your case. We can use everything else about the murders, but nothing about a doll. Unless…unless there's a way to prove that you _believe_ it was your doll," he said, his eyes dimming in thought.

"What do you mean, Dan?" Julie asked.

"Well, what if the killer is hiding behind a remote control doll? What if he sent the doll to Andy and programmed it to say horrible things to him?"

"That was mentioned the first time around when the case first started, I believe," Julie said. "But no malfunctions were found in the doll."

"Yes, but those who checked out the doll died," Dan said, snapping his fingers. "That's it! We can prove Andy's innocent by giving all the evidence that he didn't kill people. All we have to say is that Andy doesn't know who did it, but that this person is using him as a cover-up. So we don't have to prove who did it, we just have to prove Andy _didn't_ do it."

Andy's eyes widened from disbelief. "You mean…I could actually win and get my name cleared?"

"It's a possibility, especially since there's not enough evidence against you to begin with. And now with the lie-detector test, we are starting to build up evidence to prove your innocence," Dan said, smiling at him. "But we're not there yet. You'll have the take the lie-detector test a couple more times just to prove to the courts it's not a glitch."

Andy nodded determined. "Okay."

Julie smiled at him and Dan gave him a nod, patting his head. "Don't worry kid."

"Thank you," Andy smiled sincerely, feeling happy for the first time since he had met Ceceila Jaques. "Thank you so much."

"No prob," Dan winked.

"Dan! Julie!" someone shouted, coming from down the hall. "We've got another murder!"

"Another murder?" Julie asked.

Andy glanced at her worriedly. "You aren't going to leave me are you?"

"Don't worry, there are cops here 24/7. We'll be back as soon as we can," Dan said, standing up.

Julie smiled and nodded toward Andy. "Just stay here and rest, alright? If you need anything Amy and Risa are around here somewhere."

"Okay," Andy said quietly, watching them turn and walk away.

Feeling a bit apprehensive, Andy leaned back in the chair hoping they would come back soon. He knew Chucky was out there looking for him and the longer he stayed in one place the more likely it was to be found.

_Several hours later: 9:03 p.m._

Andy was fiddling with a deck of cards that one of the officers had given him. Dan and Julie still weren't back yet and there were only a few cops around. Risa had to leave for break and wouldn't be back until midnight and Amy had to leave on a call. The only officers there were Pete, Adam and Shawn. The three of them were busy. Pete was at the front desk and Adam and Shawn were at their desks. Andy was sitting at Dan's desk with the deck of cards just waiting for time to move faster.

"Alright boys," Shawn said, yawning as he stood up. "I'm going to the bathroom. Don't have fun without me."

"Will do," Adam grinned.

"Yeah, yeah," Pete called back to them.

Shawn left the room glancing at him. "Don't cause any trouble Andy."

Andy didn't respond; he hadn't caused trouble the whole time he had been there. Obviously some people still thought he was guilty in some way. Adam also stood up and stretched.

"I'm going to get some food, you want something Pete?" he called to him.

"Nah, I'm good," Pete called back.

Adam walked forward, glancing at Andy. "You'll be fine here, right? You won't try and run away? Shawn will be back from the bathroom any minute and Pete's right over there."

"I know," Andy said quietly.

Adam stared at him silently then nodded. "Good. I'll be back in a few."

Andy watched him leave and sighed heavily. A moment later Andy heard voices coming from the front. He assumed it was just Pete and Adam talking. Seconds later, the door to the back opened and a woman walked in.

"Yes, she said I could pick something up from her desk. I know where to find it. Call her if you don't believe me," she said.

"Nah, it's fine," Pete smiled. "Just be quick."

"Okay," she smiled back, heading toward the desk.

Pete glanced at Andy to make sure he was still there and then headed back to the front. The woman was heading over to a desk, but the moment Pete was gone she turned around to face Andy and walked toward him, smiling.

"Hi Andy," she said quietly.

Andy glanced up nervously. "Hi."

"There's no reason to be afraid," she said, smiling. "I'm Shalice Sheldon and I just wanted to ask you a couple questions."

"If you're not a cop then I shouldn't be talking with you," Andy said.

Shalice sighed and nodded. "I'm not a cop, I'm a reporter. But I didn't come here to interrogate you. I just wanted to meet you, that's all."

"Are you going to write an article on me?" Andy asked.

"Most likely, but it won't be anything bad," she reassured him. "So you're thirteen, right?"

Andy nodded. "Yeah, but I haven't gotten to celebrate my birthday in a while."

"Oh, that's sad," Shalice said. "How come?"

Andy hesitated then shrugged. Shalice realized he wasn't in the mood to talk, probably because the cops had already done enough questioning, just like Julie had said.

"It's okay, you don't have to answer. I just wanted to know if y—"

The lights above them suddenly turned off and the entire room became dark. Andy froze in his seat, blinking to get his eyes used to the dark.

"Looks like the power went out," Shalice said, moving around in the dark. "Andy?"

Andy was frozen to his seat, unable to move or speak. He heard Pete swear in the other room about the power failure and wondered where Shawn was. He wondered when Julie and Dan would get back, because he was certain the power failure wasn't a coincidence.

"Andy, are you there?" Shalice asked, concerned.

"We have to get out of here," Andy whispered.

He felt Shalice grab his arm. "What? Why?"

"He's here," Andy whispered harshly, feeling his throat constrict. "He's come for me."

"Who? The murderer?" Shalice asked, her voice a bit shaky.

"Yes," Andy whispered softly. "We have to get out of here, please! Is there any way?"

"Calm down, Andy, alright? Come on, follow me," she said, grabbing his hand and helping him through the dark.

They went out the door and into the hallway, where it was still just as dark. Shalice led him to the front desk.

"Hello? Officer? Are you there?" Shalice called out. "He probably went to go check on the power. If we could find where it is, we could turn it back on."

Andy was shaking in her grasp, wanting to get out of there as fast as possible. Shalice began leading him through the darkness. "I know I saw signs to the basement somewhere over here when I came in. That should be where the power box is."

"I think…this is it," she said quietly. "Come one, Andy, it's alright."

Andy just followed her through the door. Shalice tightened her grip on his hand. "Be careful. These are stairs."

Andy felt for the railing and began descending the stairs with her help. They managed to get to the bottom without a problem and went through the only door there. Shalice felt around for a familiar box-shaped container. Her hands felt something cold and metal.

"I think I found it, Andy," she said, feeling for an opening. She opened it and felt around for a large lever. Grabbing onto something, she pulled it up.

A generator sounded before the lights began flickering and soon they came on. Shalice grinned, staring down at Andy, but Andy wasn't staring at her. His eyes were on the ground and he was pale.

"Andy what's wrong?" Shalice asked. She turned to where he was looking and let out a scream. The officer who had let her in was lying on the floor covered in blood with a pen sticking out of his throat.

"Oh my God…Oh my God, what do we do?" Shalice whispered frantically.

"We have to get out of here or he'll find us!" Andy exclaimed, tugging on her hand. "Come on!"

Shalice was surprised when Andy led her back up the stairs quickly. He was looking for the nearest exit. A sound nearby caused them both to turn and Andy stood rigid, staring at the elevator. It was moving down.

"Well that's weird," she muttered. "Andy? Andy what's the matter?"

Andy had backed away shaking his head, looking more frightened than Shalice could've imagined.

"It's Chucky," he whispered. "He's coming."

Shalice's heart stopped abruptly. She could tell Andy was being serious and someone was coming up in the elevator.

"Run!" She yelled.

She dashed behind Andy in her high heels and led him down the hall and through the double doors. The elevator door opened just as the double doors closed behind them. A small figure walked out holding a very sharp object.

Shalice ran with Andy through many other hallways and finally came to a door. She fumbled with her keys and unlocked it, then she pushed Andy inside the office.

"Listen you stay in here, the door will be locked, all right? And there are no windows," she said quickly.

"Wait, don't leave me," Andy said desperately.

She saw the fear in his eyes and bent down, "Andy? Listen to me I won't be able to protect you without a weapon and some backup. I'm going to call Julie and Dan. I promise I'll come back for you, just don't make any sounds and hide," she smiled and placed her hand on his face before giving him a peck on the cheek. "I'll be back."

She closed the door and locked it, leaving a frightened Andy behind the door. She knew she shouldn't leave him alone but she'd be defenseless without some kind of weapon. Quickly she stuck the keys in her pocket and ran down the hallway turning left and went in another hallway. Out of nowhere something came flying at her and stabbed her right in her leg.

"Ahhh!" She fell to the ground and saw a piece of bottle glass jabbed into her leg. Stumbling she ran as fast as she could down the hallway, blood was dripping from her leg but she didn't stop to do anything about it. She reached her office and shut the door quickly. She limped over to her desk and picked up the phone. Just as she was about to dial Julie's number the dial tone was cut off. She tried again and again and finally put the phone down.

"He cut the power lines…" she whispered, fear clearly rising in her voice.

She needed help. Quickly, she sat at her desk and opened her e-mail account. She went to compose and quickly looked up Julie's name to get her e-mail.

"Come on, hurry!" She whispered.

Finally it appeared and she started typing a message.

'Julie! It's Shalice. I'm still at the office. I found Andy Barclay running in the parking structure and he said someone was going to kill him. I talked to him and he told me that Charles Lee Ray used some voodoo magic to survive his death, but he ended up getting put in his Good Guy doll. Even though I'm starting to sound crazy for believing him, if you could just see the look on his face. I talked to him for a while and then I noticed someone was coming up the elevator. Julie, no one but me had the elevator key tonight, everyone else is at home. He chased us down some hallways and I locked Andy in Susan's office. But that's not all he told me.'

A sudden crash close by made her lift her head.

'He told me this girl named Kyle was an eyewitness for a killing done by the doll and even seeing the doll for herself. She should be around in an orphanage in this state. She has blonde hair, brown eyes and is much older than Andy, probably early-mid 20s. She might even have her own place, but you've got to find her.'

She clicked send and slowly took the piece of glass out of her leg, trying not to scream. She grabbed a gun out of her desk and loaded it.

Andy was sitting underneath a desk quietly. He heard a crash of some sort but didn't want to move, or even breathe. He wanted to make sure that Shalice was okay, but he was too afraid to leave the room. He didn't want Chucky to kill her, though. Slowly and quietly he got up and tip-toed to the door, pressing his ear against it. Just then the doorknob jiggled. Andy jumped back and stumbled onto the floor. He saw a shadow underneath the door and suddenly he heard a key being inserted into the door.

"Please," Andy whispered, "Please just leave me alone."

The key was turned and he saw the door unlock, "Please, please stop," Andy whimpered louder. "Leave me alone!"

He suddenly decided that if he yelled loud enough, maybe Shalice would be able to hear him.

The doorknob was slowly being turned.

"Help! Stop it!" He sobbed. "Leave me alone! Don't hurt me! I promise you can have my soul, just pleas stop!"

He couldn't help but cry out for help, he was trapped in the room alone without a weapon and now Chucky had come to get him. Quickly Andy scrambled to a standing position and ran towards the back of the room. He missed the small garbage can in front of him and tripped over it, sending him crashing on the floor.

"Ow!" He hissed. A cut was thoroughly imprinted in his arm from scraping up against the desk, but he didn't have any time to worry. The door opened and Andy grabbed the first thing he saw, which was a chair. A figure wobbled in, her long black hair now a mess with a bleeding leg.

"Andy?" She asked hoarsely.

Immediately Andy dropped the chair and ran towards her, "Shalice!"

She smiled, "Are you all right?"

He nodded. She then noticed his cut.

"You're bleeding!"

"It's okay, I just cut myself," Andy said. "We have to get out of here or Chucky will get us."

He surely didn't want another dead body to add to the pile Chucky already had.

"It's all right Andy, I e-mailed Julie so she should be getting it soon. Now come on," she smiled.

Andy nodded. Before he could take a step or even blink he saw something silver and sharp lift up behind Shalice.

"Shalice, look out!" He screamed.

It all happened too fast. Shalice was startled when Andy suddenly screamed out and even more startled when she was pushed aside. A blood-curdling scream erupted from Andy when the dagger sliced a huge, deep cut across his chest. He could feel the warm blood seeping to the floor. Andy backed away and held a hand to his chest, which was now covered in blood.

"Andy!" Shalice screamed.

He could barely hear her because he was too shocked to realize what happened. He heard another familiar voice nearby.

"Shit!"

"Leave him alone!"

Suddenly Andy found Shalice in front of him holding her arms out to protect him. Her eyes were wide with shock as she saw the Good Guy doll standing there holding a sharp dagger which was now dripping with Andy's blood. Chucky sneered at her and began advancing towards them.

"No! Shalice…pl..ease…run!" Andy gasped with pain. "He won't kill me, just get out of here."

Shalice could only shake her head. Andy tried to push her away but she wouldn't budge.

"Shalice, please! I don't want him to kill you!" Andy screamed.

Chucky walked towards them until he was only a meter away from Shalice, who was still guarding Andy, although she looked terrified.

"How very brave of you Mrs. Burlain," Chucky's cold voice finally spoke.

With one quick slice he slashed across her stomach. Shalice screamed with pain and collapsed on the floor. The blood spilled out over the floor mixing with Andy's blood. Chucky raised the dagger to slice her once more to make sure she was dead but Andy jumped on him.

"No! Stop it! Don't!"

Andy grabbed the knife after pushing over a startled Chucky and threw the knife across the room up high and it slammed into the wall, blade first. Now the knife was too high for Chucky to reach. He only looked up amused and stared back at Andy who was still clutching his chest and taking deep, ragged breaths. The cut wasn't deep enough to do any damage besides some eternal skin damage, but the shock of being cut so fast and deep and the amount of pain that went with it, overwhelmed him. And of course he panicked. Chucky smiled at Andy and reached over to Shalice's body and grabbed her gun out of her holster attached to her jeans. Andy looked fearfully down at Shalice and then at the gun that Chucky clicked back to reload.

"Let's go Andy, you and I have a date and the time is running out," Chucky grinned.

Andy hesitated. He wasn't sure if Shalice was truly dead, she could just be knocked out and injured, but how was he to help her? He really hoped she would survive, not only because she was kind to him and tried to help him, but that she also was an eyewitness that could help prove his innocence. He didn't want Chucky to do anything else to her so maybe the best decision was to just follow him. Shalice did say that she had e-mailed her friend to the police should be arriving soon.

The sudden sound of something clicking made Andy jump. Chucky was now pointing the pistol right towards him. However, Andy knew that Chucky couldn't kill him because he needed him.

"Now you little shit!" He yelled and then the gun turned and was pointed towards Shalice, "Or she gets a bullet to the head."

That made up Andy's mind immediately. He wasn't sure if Chucky was even aware that if Shalice survived she could help him be taken off the charges, but he surely didn't want to mess things up. If Shalice was alive she was already injured enough, but he had to make sure that Chucky wasn't going to hurt her.

"Please, don't hurt anyone else," Andy whimpered.

Chucky turned back towards him but the gun was still pointed at Shalice. "Then get moving," he ordered.

**XXXXXX**

_Guilford_ _Police Station 10:43 p.m._

"Damnit! How the hell did this happen?" Dan shouted, slamming his fist down. "Andy's gone and Pete and Shawn have been killed!"

"Calm down, Dan," Julie said, trying to soothe him. Dan had been close with both of them so it was difficult for him to handle it.

"That little shit! I can't believe I actually thought he was innocent!" Dan exclaimed.

"Dan, stop it! You don't know that he killed them!" Julie snapped angrily, glaring at him. "Maybe this is what everyone does: they blame him even when they weren't there."

Dan unclenched his fists, cooling down only slightly. "I'd like to believe he's innocent, but…"

"Julie, Dan?" Amy called to them. "A woman was found in one of the offices and she's still alive. They're taking her to the hospital right now."

"She could've seen something," Julie said, glancing at Dan who nodded.

"Which hospital?" Dan asked.

"Guilford Hospital," Amy responded.

Dan nodded and headed right out the door with Julie following. They both got into the car and Dan drove away fast, heading toward the hospital. They reached the hospital within twenty minutes, but the woman had just been taken in. For several hours they waited and waited, Dan becoming more impatient by the minute. Finally a doctor came out of the room and Dan walked up to him.

"Excuse me, sir, how's she doing?"

"She alright. She's been stabilized but her wounds need time to heal," he said.

"Would it be alright if we went in to see her?" Julie asked.

"Well, I suppose. She's doing alright, but please don't stress her out. She needs to rest."

"Of course doctor," Julie nodded.

Dan immediately headed for the door and opened it. Julie gasped when she recognized the woman from before, the reporter. She approached the bed beside Dan to see her torso was all bandaged up and there were IVs in her arm.

"Shalice?" Julie asked.

Shalice's eyes opened wearily and she glanced over at her. "Julie Goldstone?" she asked as her voice cracked.

Julie nodded. "Are you feeling alright to talk?"

Shalice nodded and sat up very slowly. "Please…please save Andy," she whispered.

Dan and Julie exchanged surprised glances.

"Do you know where he is?" Dan asked.

Shalice shook her head. "No, but he's got him."

"Who?" Julie asked.

"The killer," Shalice choked out. "He slashed at me and…and Andy tried to protect me," she said, beginning to sob. "And I couldn't…I couldn't protect him."

"Oh shit," Dan said, rubbing his eyes. "Okay, I'll call the chief right away and ask for back-up to help search for Andy and question anyone who might have been near the police station at the time of the murders."

Julie nodded. "I'll be right there."

Dan nodded and left quickly, taking out his walky-talky. Julie sighed heavily and slumped down at the end of the bed.

"So you saw the killer huh?" Julie asked.

Shalice shook her head sadly, sniffling. "No…he's using the Good Guy doll to scare Andy. So Andy wasn't lying about that. The killer somehow programmed the doll to walk, talk and even hold weapons. It was the doll that slashed me with a knife, and Andy too."

"He slashed Andy? Wait, so the killer is using a doll to use Andy?"

"Yes…I don't know how," she choked out. "I don't know how but he's got Andy now. I think he uses the doll so that his fingerprints don't get anywhere, I don't know."

Julie's eyes dimmed and she bit her lip angrily. She shouldn't have left Andy. That was why he asked if they were leaving; Andy knew he was in danger even at the police station. The poor boy…he was innocent. And no matter what, Julie would make sure Andy's name was cleared and that the real killer was caught. No child deserved that fate. She only hoped Andy would live to see the day when he wouldn't be thought of as a killer.

"Thank you for telling me Shalice. You rest up now. You will have to at some point testify on tape for us."

Shalice nodded. "I know, I will."

Julie then got up and gave her a small, sad smile before she walked out.


	7. Midnight Time's up!

_**Playtime's Over**_

**Chapter 7: Midnight—Time's up**

His lungs were burning from running and his wound was throbbing so bad he could hardly standing it. Chucky was still pointing the gun at him, forcing him to carry him as they ran. It was just like before when he was seven…it was déjà vu all over again. And this time, he didn't see anyone there to help save him. Sirens blared in the distance and he felt Chucky grab his hair.

"Stop here!" Chucky hissed. They listened for a minute and Chucky watched waiting to see if the sirens were getting closer or not.

Andy was breathing shallowly; the pain was increasing and he was beginning to feel dizzy.

"Quit hyperventilating! You're going to pass out!" Chucky hissed.

Andy could barely hear him. All he heard was Chucky's cold voice muttering "_oh shit" _before he completely passed out.

Chucky stared down at him while he was unconscious. A sound came nearby and Chucky turned to see a man exiting his store and locking up for the evening. He was no more than ten feet away so he was bound to notice Andy. Falling down beside Andy, Chucky pretended to be a doll. He heard the man's footsteps and then a sharp gasp came. A second later, the man was peering over Andy, feeling his pulse. Quickly, he pulled out his cell phone and was about to dial 911 when something pressed against his neck.

"If you want to live, you'll do exactly as I say," a cold voice spoke.

The man put his hands up, making sure to look forward. "W-what do you want?"

"Pick up the boy and put him in your car."

The man froze for a minute, but Chucky pushed the object closer. "DO IT!"

The man nodded frantically and reached down to pick Andy up. Very slowly he made his way to the car, too frightened to turn around and see who was holding him up. He set the boy down in the backseat and then got in the front seat. He felt something from behind his seat at his neck.

"Drive," Chucky ordered.

"To where?" the man asked, shaking with fright.

"I'll tell you when to stop, just drive," Chucky hissed.

The man drove as he was told and Chucky waited until they were farther away. Andy groaned in the back seat, but remained unconscious. After about ten minutes or so of driving, Chucky finally pressed the object closer.

"Stop here."

The man did as he was told and just as he put the car in park Chucky slammed the broken bottle he had picked up from the trash against the back of his head, knocking the man out cold. Chucky then went to the back and slapped Andy several times on the face.

"Wake up you little shit! It's time for Uncle Charles to take over your body, let's go!"

Andy groaned and blinked his eyes open. Chucky's face stared down at him, sneering and Andy nearly screamed. Chucky grabbed his shirt roughly and hoisted him to a sitting position.

"Get moving!" Chucky demanded.

Andy's eyes were wide with fright and he glanced over at the man who was unconscious before slowly getting out of the car.

"Go into this alley," Chucky ordered, pointing to it with the broken bottle in his hand.

Andy reluctantly did as he was told. As he walked into the dark alley he felt something push him suddenly. Andy let out a scream as he stumbled to the ground. He forced to turn over onto his back, where his wound was and he hissed with pain. He already had wounds on his body from the last time and now he was certain that this wound would scar.

The first thing that came to mind was that it had to be a nightmare. Andy lay on the floor stomach up while Chucky was above him, pointing a knife at him. As if that would've done anything. He was going to die anyway, why should he let Chucky take over his soul and go around killing people? After all no one would know it was Chucky and not Andy. He sighed. He thought for sure the nightmare would be over, after all he had killed the damn doll twice now and it didn't make sense as to why Chucky kept coming back.

_It's the police, and everyone else. They all keep bringing him back after they find the remains. It's because the Good Guys doll company doesn't want to lose money by not being able to sell the dolls, because of me. They always put him back together and then he comes back to get me. My nightmare will never end. _

The realization that struck him was too painful. Andy never asked to be put in that mess, in fact, all he had asked for was a Good Guy doll. Maybe it was too much to ask. He should've just been happy with the clothes and Good Guy toolset his mom gave him, but no, being six years old he wanted a Good Guy _doll _because everyone then had one. Now Andy regretted everything. He missed his mom; he missed his life and most of all he wished he hadn't seen so many people die.

"Well Andy, this is it."

Andy stopped thinking and looked up at Chucky who was grinning widely down at him. It sickened him to see him so happy, but there was nothing he could do.

Chucky put his hand on Andy's forehead and closed his large plastic blue eyes. Andy shut his eyes tightly as well; he didn't want to feel it. He just wanted to get it over with.

"_Aa_ _di duay dembell aa_, give me the power I beg of you! _Laver merci a dupuah shione_," Chucky spoke loudly.

A crash of thunder made Andy's skin crawl, but he still didn't open his eyes. He at least didn't want to see what was happening to him. He felt a bit light-headed, something he hadn't noticed before. His head felt like it was spinning in a whirlpool and his fingers began to tingle. He almost felt like he was floating, the light feeling giving him immense relief along with fear.

_Is this the feeling of getting my soul taken over? _

No, it couldn't have been, Andy would've felt it before, which meant that Chucky's time was running out. Suddenly, Andy stopped holding his breath. He strained his hears as he heard the squeal of tires skidding across the road only a little ways away. Hope began rising in him. He just might be saved. He opened one eye and saw that, out of pure luck, Chucky's eyes were closed. He was concentrating on absorbing the power and he didn't notice what Andy could hear. _And I sure hope he can't feel what I'm feeling. _

Andy fought the urge to jump up and run out of the small store. He wanted to be saved so badly but knew that if Chucky found out what he was doing before help arrived it was most likely whoever was coming to save him would die. Chucky pressed down harder on his forehead, causing Andy to shut his eyes again. It was most likely an unconscious thing, but it still gave Andy the shivers.

"_Zente ah mopuah de mort," _Chucky continued.

Andy held his breath again, that was as far as Chucky always got. But he couldn't hear the sound of the car, nor could he hear footsteps. His hopes were dwindling as quickly as they had come. Still, he wasn't going to lose all hope until it was finally over. He clenched his fists and waited. Chucky took the knife and laid it across Andy's chest. He could feel the heavy weight of the handle.

_Please. Please come…please save me. _

The plea wouldn't help any, but it made him feel a lot better. He knew deep down inside this day was going to come, but he didn't want to admit it...he hadn't wanted Chucky to win. But the persistent possessed doll wouldn't give up. Andy squirmed a little beneath Chucky's grip and soon felt the sharp point of a knife at his throat. He gulped and held as still as he could. The storm was getting louder to the point where it was almost deafening. Andy's hands became sweaty and he waited…waited for something to happen—

"ANDY!"

Andy's eyes snapped open. "Help!" He screamed unconsciously before he could stop himself. Chucky picked up the dagger that had been lying on his chest and glared down at him, finally losing his concentration.

"Why, you little shit…"

_BAM! BAM!_

Chucky was thrown away from Andy and flew against the wall. It all happened so fast. Andy was pulled to his feet, not caring who was saving him at the moment. The man holding the gun pointed at Chucky looked ready to kill. His partner, a woman, looked just as angry but held Andy's hand tightly. In short, they both looked like they went through hell and back. The man lowered his gun and went to retrieve the dagger only a few feet from Chucky.

"Are you all right?"

Andy snapped out of his daze and looked up at the woman, who was smiling down at him. A worried look was upon her face, but she tried to hide it as best as she could.

Andy nodded, "Yes, I'm fine."

He turned back to see the other officer picking up the dagger with a cloth and put it in a plastic bag. He turned around and caught Andy's eye. He smiled slightly and nodded, then he looked up at his partner.

"Come on Julie, we better get out of here and take him someplace safe."

"No wait! He's not dead," Andy said fearfully, pointing at the spot where the doll lay face down.

The man turned to look at the doll, narrowing his eyes, his hand tight on his gun.

"I don't think that _thing _will be getting up anytime soon," he said with disgust.

"But— "

"Come on hun, don't worry about it," Julie smiled at him. "It's over now, let's go."

Andy wanted to protest, but he was too tired to even move. They didn't understand, like everyone else. Chucky wasn't dead. He couldn't die, not like that anyway. They had to do something extra this time….but what? How could he stay dead? Andy didn't know the answer to that and was sure no one would be able to help, but he knew it wasn't over; it was far from over.

Giving in, Andy let himself be led out of the small and ruined shop into the police car that had come just in time. He was allowed in the back. Once he was buckled up the car sped off. Andy turned his head to look at the shop just to make sure. He didn't see any shadows or any movements coming from it. He sighed with relief. Maybe it was over.

_No, you know it's not. Chucky can't be killed with bullets. _

Andy closed his eyes tightly, gripping the seat with all his might.

"Hey kiddo, you okay back there?"

Andy looked up to see Dan staring back at him. "You were very brave, you could've gotten hurt."

What he said struck Andy hard. He had completely forgotten about the pain in his chest, where Chucky had accidentally slashed him instead of that nice woman, Shalice, who had tried to help him. He winced. His nerves seemed to unfreeze and the pain overwhelmed him again. He lay his head back against the seat breathing heavily.

"It looks like we're witnesses too Julie." Dan said.

Julie then turned to look at Andy in the back and smiled. "Did you hear that? You've got several witnesses now."

Andy smiled weakly, "Does this mean my name can be cleared?"

Julie smiled back at him, "Well we don't know for sure, but we've got quite a bit of evidence to prove you didn't do any of the murders."

It was when she said that he thought about Shalice. He glanced up at her with worry. "Is that reporter…Shalice, is she alright?"

Julie nodded, "Yeah, she's in the hospital and doing alright."

Andy's face immediately lit up, "Really? She's all right?"

Again Julie nodded, "Yes, and since you'll be coming with me, we can go visit her, sound good?"

Andy nodded vigorously, glad something was going right for a change. The car turned abruptly and Andy could already tell they were only a couple blocks from the station. Perhaps his endless nightmare would turn around after all. If his name was cleared, at least if Chucky killed more people to get to him, he wouldn't be blamed. People would finally help to protect him.

_People who are strong enough to live…_

He sighed and leaned back, the pain exhausting him. He wasn't sure whether or not to bother them with his problems anymore. They were already involved deep enough, in fact, their lives were in danger. The moment they even decided to try and help him they had committed themselves to something more dangerous than they could understand. Even though Andy was younger, he somehow understood what that meant.

In a matter of minutes he was being helped out of the car and taken into the station. Many officers were around talking to one another or doing something. It was busy even so late at night. Most turned when they entered, some of them looked more than surprised to see him. They most likely thought he was dead or worse. He recognized the girl officer from before, Risa. Her expression was grim and she stared at Andy as he limped forward with Julie and Dan at his side.

"The chief is here. She wants to see Andy."

Exchanging surprised expressions, Julie and Dan then led Andy into the larger office down the hall. His heart was beating frantically as if afraid the chief would suddenly yell at him and tell him he was making things up. As they approached the office, Andy was surprised when he saw a woman with short brown hair and intense blue eyes sitting in the chief's spot. She was very pretty, though her expression was grim.

"Julie, Dan," she greeted. "Thank you for bringing him here. You can take your leave."

Nodding, they turned to leave the room, but Julie patted his shoulder to comfort him before she closed the door. The room was silent and he was certain she could tell he was nervous. He hoped she didn't assume he was nervous because he was hiding something.

"Andy, my name is Chief Byrons, but you can call me Mackenzie."

"Nice to meet you," Andy said quietly.

"Are you hurt anywhere?" she asked, standing up.

Hesitating, Andy nodded. "Yeah, I was cut on my chest," he said gesturing to the place beneath the jacket Dan had given him where Chucky had sliced him with the knife.

"Don't worry, we'll get you looked at. Are you alright to just answer a few questions?" she asked, leaning up against her desk.

"Yeah," he responded.

"Go ahead and take a seat then," she said, smiling kindly.

Andy sat down, relieved that his aching muscles could take a break. The woman, Mackenzie, opened the file sitting on her desk. It was a fairly large file filled with numerous papers.

"I've taken the liberty to review your case from when it first started till now. It seems that this has happened to you before, am I right?"

Glancing downward, Andy nodded his head, feeling pain well up in his chest. He really didn't want to think about everything he had gone through. Otherwise, there was a good chance he would start crying and probably never stop.

"Dan and Julie have come to me requesting a court date for you to prove your innocence."

He glanced up at her as she stared back down at him, after closing his file.

"I'm not saying it's guaranteed, but if you could stand to have a couple more lie detector tests, we can start filling out the paperwork to get you settled with a court date."

Andy nodded, not sure what else he could do.

"There's one other thing you should know. Do you remember your last foster family, Mr. And Mrs. Jaques?"

His nose immediately began to sting and before he could stop himself, the tears began to fall. Mackenzie quickly stood up from her chair and approached him, kneeling down in front of him.

"Andy, I know this is painful for you, but I have some good news."

Wiping at his eyes, he looked at her as she stared at him seriously. "In the will of Mr. And Mrs. Jaques, they decided to leave everything to both you and Cody, as well as a couple donations to some charities. Most of their inheritance, however, went to the two of you. Since Cody is unfortunately not here anymore, you have inherited everything, including her estate."

Andy's eyes were wide with shock and he shook his head in disbelief. "But…I was only there a week! And she…she put me in her will?"

Mackenzie smiled softly. "It seems like she was very fond of you. You must've meant a great deal to you, as did Cody. I feel she probably thought you were going to stay with her permanently."

"I c-can't…I don't deserve it," Andy shook his head as more tears came. "I couldn't protect them! They died because of me!"

The chief's eyes dimmed and she stood up. "Don't think that way, Andy. It won't make any difference. It goes to you no matter what. Now, why don't we take you to the hospital to get you checked up and so you can get some rest. I've told Julie and Dan to stay with you, alright? You will be told when the court date is decided."

Nodding his head, Andy allowed her to walk him out of the office, still in a daze. He was in pain, but mostly he was in shock. The inheritance that Mr. And Mrs. Jaques passed down to him was probably enormous. He had always grown up poor, especially when he was separated from his mother and lived at orphanages. Now he owned a beautiful house and a lot of money. Perhaps he could use some of that money to free his mother from the institution she was forced into.

**XXXXX**

_Several hours later…Guilford Hospital._

Andy was sitting in a hospital bed eating a sandwich with a glass of chocolate milk when Julie stepped into the room.

"Hey there," she smiled, approaching the bed and sitting down. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine," he answered, after swallowing.

His wounds had been cleaned up and bandaged and so far the doctors had found nothing else wrong with him. The only thing was his blood pressure. It was a bit high but that was because he was so stressed out and nervous about Chucky finding him. They gave him a pill to relax him and since then he had been feeling better.

"The chief told me I will inherit everything of Mr. And Mrs. Jaques," Andy said quietly, after several minutes of silence.

Julie nodded. "Yes, we found that out shortly after you did. You don't sound very happy though."

"It's great, I mean…I have a beautiful house and lots of money, but…I'd really just like my mother back. If she could live with me in that house and we could start over new, that would be the best thing ever."

Julie smiled sadly. "Don't give up just yet, Andy. I'm sure that dream will come true. Your mother was actually released from the institution last year and has been living in a small apartment in California."

"She has?" Andy's eyes widened. "But how come no one at the orphanage told me?"

"I'm not sure," she answered truthfully. "But don't worry about that right now. You'll see her again. For the time being, you should get some rest. Dan and the chief are trying to get a court date set up to prove your innocence. I've been collecting the paperwork and testimonies so hopefully it shouldn't be too long."

Sighing, Andy leaned back against the pillows. "You know, I actually never thought this day would come. Even if I don't get the court date, I have people who actually are willing to help me because they believe me. In the past, no one ever believed me. And those that found out the truth…died. I've seen so many deaths, but I still can't get used to them. Especially Mr. And Mrs. Jaques…and Cody. Even though I didn't know them for very long, they meant so much to me. And Mr. Jaques tried to protect me. He was the one who told me to run. If he hadn't, Chucky would've gotten to me much sooner and I probably would be dead by now."

Julie reached out a hand and cupped his chin. "Don't worry. Everything will be alright. You know, I believe everything happens for a reason. Maybe…just maybe the Jaques' had to die for you so that you could get a true home that you could call your own. And who knows, maybe the court date will come up in the next week and then afterwards you'll get to see your mother. You just have to have faith."

"I'll try," Andy smiled reluctantly. "At least I know things could be a lot worse than this. When I'm with you and Dan, I feel safe."

"That's good," Julie grinned. "Now get some rest, alright?"

"Okay," he said, smiling as she got up and approached the door. "Oh! Julie? What time is it?"

Blinking curiously, she glanced down at her watch. "Uh…it's almost 12:30 a.m."

Andy's heart stopped. It was past midnight, past Chucky's time when he was supposed to take Andy's soul. Now Chucky was stuck in his doll form. That only meant one thing: Chucky was coming to kill him. His face had paled and Julie stared at him seriously.

"Are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just late, that's all," Andy lied quickly, glancing away so as not to look her in the eye.

"Well, you get some rest now," she said quietly while opening the door. "I'll be back in a little bit to check on you."

Andy nodded without glancing at her and a second later he heard the door shut. He let out the breath he was holding and then pulled his knees up to his chest. Chucky was coming to kill him…and he would kill whoever he had to in the hospital to get to him. Julie wasn't safe; he wasn't safe. He couldn't stay there. And just when he thought his luck was changing, the reality came and smacked him in the face. Chucky would definitely not allow Andy's name to be cleared. He'd do anything to prevent it. Squeezing his eyes shut as tears leaked out of the corner, Andy lie his head on his knees. If he wanted to save Julie, he would have to run away…again.

TO BE CONTINUED….


	8. Chucky's Revenge Begins

**Playtime's Over**

A special thank you to everyone who kept checking back despite my long, horrible delay. And those that urged me to continue. (**Nilla, Dino, **and others. I'm too lazy to look through all my reviews. :-)

**Chapter 8: Chucky's Revenge Begins**

Julie was gone now; she had left to go do something, but she said she'd be back soon. He had no time to lose. If he wanted to get out of there he'd have to do it fast. A chill ran up his spine at being left alone, but he ignored it and crept quietly out of the bed. He opened the door and looked down the hallways to make sure Julie was no where in sight. Luckily they hadn't changed him into a hospital gown so he was still in his clothes, but even so something didn't feel right. Andy spotted a pad of paper and a pen on the nightstand next to the bed. He took it and quickly scribbled something to Julie, not wanting to be alone with Chucky wanting to kill him and this time by any means possible.

However, Andy also knew how Chucky thought. After dealing with him twice all ready he had a feeling Chucky would attack the police force first, most likely the one Dan was with since it was Dan who shot him. Chucky always seemed to go for the people he held grudges on first. Then Chucky would attack any guards standing outside, or distract them so he could sneak in. Once he was in the hospital everyone standing even unconsciously in his way of getting to him would be killed off, including Julie. That was why Andy had to leave. He was sick of the number of dead bodies due to Chucky rising throughout the years.

He had been sure a while ago that it was finally over…that Chucky wouldn't be brought back to life after nearly six years of being stuck in the orphanage with no one willing to take pity on him, or believe that he was innocent. For so long he had suffered and had dealt with so much pain. He had been blamed for all of Chucky's messes and revenge killings. He had taken the blame for so many things and had been ridiculed and feared. He had lost hope so long ago that it was hard to find it again, even when Julie and Dan were helping him.

Andy shook his head of his thoughts and signed his name after the note to Julie, hoping she would be all right if he left. He knew what he had to do and that was to find a place that would have weapons. A place that he could prepare to kill Chucky, like the Good Guy Doll factory in which he had used the acid to spray on him. Now that Chucky was human and his time had passed, he would be more susceptible to wounds. That was the only thing he felt would stop Chucky. Either way, whether he used weapons, acid, or blew him up into pieces, that was Andy's only option and he was running out of time.

He decided the first step would be to run away from the hospital to a shelter, like a library or some place he could be around a lot of people. He was sure no one would recognize him, since it had been nearly six years ago that his face had been in the paper. Plus he had changed a little, and even grown some. His hair was still the same, shaping his face with his brown bangs partly hanging in his eyes. His large brown eyes hadn't changed either, but his face had changed slightly.

Once he was surrounded by people he had to look for a shop that carried weapons. Slipping out of the room, Andy raced down the hall toward the elevator and got in. As the elevator doors shut he felt fear running through him as it reminded him of his encounter before at the police station with the other nice woman Shalice. Andy had been so relieved to hear she had survived. It was the first time ever that anyone had survived Chucky's encounter, minus him anyway.

The elevator stopped at the first floor and let him off. Andy easily ducked past nurses or any other hospital employees and left through the front door. He felt the night time breeze sweep through his thin clothes and he wrapped his arms around himself as he ran away from the hospital. He didn't know his way around so he knew he had to find someone and ask for directions. He ran along the sidewalk in the dark, hoping that the mall was still open after midnight. There would be enough people to be with so Chucky couldn't attack him if he found him.

**XXXXX**

_It's one o'clock. Where could a kid go at one in the morning!_

Julie tapped her pencil on the desk for the thousandth time. She had gone back to the room no more than ten minutes ago to find the hospital bed completely empty. Andy had run away, again.

_But why?_ _What is he afraid of? The man who's after him must know that we know about the doll he's using to frighten Andy with. And I told him he'd be safe here, but maybe…maybe he's not. Maybe Andy knows more than we do. Right now all that matters is getting enough proof for Andy's innocence._

"Julie?"

She turned and saw Dan standing in the doorway. He was looking concerned, but tried to keep a calm expression. From working together for several years now, Julie could tell what he was feeling, just by the look in his eyes.

"Still no luck?" she asked, her eyes searching his.

Dan shook his head, "There's no trace of him. We checked the station, the orphanage, any place we could around here. There's no way to track him if he took the bus somewhere. I found out that there's one bus that still operates well into the night. If he managed to figure that out, he could be anywhere."

Julie's eyes dimmed and she leaned back in her chair, biting her lip in thought. Dan walked over and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry; right now we've just got to focus on getting that trial hearing to prove Andy's innocence."

Julie looked up surprised, "You got enough evidence?"

"I hope so. And we have the girl, Kyle, coming in as a witness for the boy. We were thinking of Andy's mother for the second witness, but we were afraid since most people think she's nuts that she wouldn't be valid."

"What about us? We saw the doll, and we saw he was holding a knife to Andy. We're cops and we're well-known for solving cases in the past. No one would think we'd just make it up," Julie suggested with a small smile.

Dan tilted his head in thought, "Yeah, that actually would help prove that he's not insane since we saw it too. Now, all we need is Andy."

Julie nodded, standing up, "I'll go search for him myself. You just talk to our boss and gets things scheduled for the trial hearing."

"Right," he nodded, smiling as he saluted before heading out.

Julie sighed, "I hope you're all right, Andy, wherever you are."

She leaned back in her seat, staring into space as if hoping by some miracle Dan would walk back in and say they had found him. She stood up slowly, rubbing her tense muscles in her neck as she left the room.

_A quick middle-of-the-night bite to eat might calm me down a bit._

She made her way to one of the vending machines, hoping that there was something not too unhealthy. She reached inside her purse to pull out some coins and moved to put them in. The lights above her flickered violently before suddenly exploding. Julie screeched and ducked down, covering her head with her hands. The lights all the way down the hallway exploded after until she was in complete darkness. The vending machines had shut off too.

_It's like the power has been cut._

She breathed deeply, looking around for some source of light. Remembering the little flashlight she kept on her keys she took it out and shone the small light around. If the hospital lines were cut, that meant that some patients were in danger. She sighed with relief when she remembered the back-up generators. Her eyes trailed over the shattered lights, squinting as she tried to make out as much as she could with the tiny flashlight. From the way they had smashed, she could tell that it had begun from where the last light stood at one of the backdoors.

_There might be a power line out there, or the generator or something. Maybe I could repair it myself and get it back on._

Walking quietly, but swiftly, she went to the door, pushing it open. A chilly breeze met her and she shivered out of instinct. In the dark she managed to see something unusual. She walked closer in order to make it out and stopped cold. There before her was the generator that had been smashed with some sort of weapon. She moved closer, squinting to get a better look at it. The wind behind her howled loudly; the hairs on her neck began to prickle. She halted curiously and suddenly wheeled around, pointing her gun behind her.

Something whizzed by her ear, smashing into the all ready destroyed machinery behind her. She let out a scream in surprise and stared wide-eyed at the surgical tool that had nearly sliced her. She heard something scampering nearby and ran back into the hospital. She screamed as something banged into the door as she shut it, locking it with some difficulty.

Slowly, she stepped back, breathing heavily with fear and uncertainty. A sharp crash caused her to wheel around. Panting from being nearly killed, she stepped forward, holding her gun out in front of her. Walking toward the sound of the noise, she took a deep breath, heading toward the lobby.

"Kara?" she called out the nurse's name.

There was only the one nurse who was still working there. It was one of the smaller hospitals that was connected to the big one. Most of the nurses and doctors were at the large hospital, and only a few were in the smaller section, including Kara who was the nurse that helped her tend to Andy. The last time Julie had seen her was when she had shown her where the kitchen was to get Andy a snack.

Taking a deep breath, Julie walked toward the desk where Kara had been sitting. She looked around, not seeing anyone in sight. She was about to walk away when a familiar beeping sound caught her attention. It sounded like a phone was off the hook. Squinting her eyes, Julie approached the desk before her in the lobby. Bending over she saw that the phone lying there had been tipped over, the receive lying on its back off the hook. Her eyes widened as she spotted blotches of blood on the counter.

"K-kara?" she whispered, bending over the desk.

There, lying on the floor in a puddle of blood was Kara. Julie gasped and jumped back, her eyes widening with horror. A surgical knife had been lodged in Kara's throat, and she lie on the floor with her eyes wide open in shock, blood pooling from her neck and mouth. Julie backed up against the wall and cupped her mouth. She was so startled she didn't hear the strange rattling at first. Wheeling around, she screamed as an operation cart skidded directly into her, knocking her straight against the elevator. Her gun flew on the ground as she collided into the closed elevator doors, making a loud grunting noise before collapsing onto the floor unconscious.

Soft, echoing footsteps sounded nearby, and a shadow appeared looming nearby her unconscious body. The figure picked up the gun, staring at it with cruel, plastic-blue eyes. Chucky grinned toothily at the woman cop who was now unconscious and clicked his tongue disapprovingly.

"A woman should never be alone in the dark," he laughed coldly. "Now, where to find Andy…"

The doll hopped up onto the information desk, where the phone still lie off the hook. He kicked it out of his way and searched upon the desk for the file names. In one of the folders he found recent arrivals and looked to see a cursive _A_.

"Trying to hide him from me. It won't work," Chucky sneered. "That little shit is going to pay for what he's done to me."

His voice turned cold as he saw a reflection of himself in a piece of glass lying on the counter. He smashed it with his inhuman doll hand, shattering it to pieces. Reading the room number off the sheet, Chucky jumped down and kicked Julie's body out of the way roughly. He pointed the gun at her to blow her head off, but stopped as a cruel smile became noticeable on his face.

"I'll leave you alive…for now. I might need you later," he said, smiling at her unconscious form.

He opened the elevator doors and hopped in, pressing the button for the second floor. In a matter of seconds, it beeped and the doors opened again. He stepped out slowly to not make much sound and held the gun by his side. Stepping up to the room, he quietly turned the knob and opened the door. He jumped inside and pointed the gun before him to the bed.

"What! That little fucker!" he hissed, glaring at the empty bed. "Where could he be?" Chucky wondered, rubbing the tip of the gun against his plastic cheek. "Where would a little boy hide?"

He walked toward the window, opening it to see if Andy had gotten out through the window. It didn't look like he was able to get down. There weren't any emergency stairs or anything. Chucky stared at it muttering "shit" under his breath. Just as he began backing away his eyes caught sight of something in the distance. It was hard to see in the dark, but there were lights around the large building and the words _Mall _appeared in flashing letters.

A sneer appeared on his face as he laughed out loud, so coldly that it would've sent shivers up the spines of people, if any had been there, or awake. His cold blue eyes narrowed into slits.

"Kids are so predictable."

_TO BE CONTINUED…_

sighs I know this was short, and I'm sooooooo sorry! Next chapter should be up in a few days, but I didn't want to make you wait any longer! It took time for me to type up how much I had written on paper, then I couldn't figure out how to finish a certain part, so I stopped here. The next part will be up in a few days! And this story is going to come to a close soon! Please forgive me. You've all been so patient! And thanks so much for sticking with me!

To Reviewers:

**Soooooooo** **sorry about the LONG delay.** **Too long. It won't happen again! The next chapter will be out in a few days, which is the second part to this chapter. It should be called Chucky's Revenge, and it'll be a two-part LONG chapter! - Thanks for being so patient!**

**Dino: **Thanks so much for keeping up with this story even though I've taken FOREVER! It won't happen again because it'll be finished by the time summer ends. So don't worry! And the next chapter should be much longer and up in a few days!

**Nilla: **thanks so much! I feel so bad for making people wait so long. Did you know that they're coming out with ANOTHER Child's Play movie: Chucky's Seed, or something. sighs I didn't really like the third or the forth movie. I don't know if I'd like this one, but anyway, I'm REALLY sorry again! Next chapter will be much longer and up in a few days! I had a bit of writer's block and didn't want to make you guys wait any longer!

**Scarlet Rain: **Thanks for the questions! Yes, Andy has been with other foster families, it was mentioned but I didn't go into detail. What I had planned was that he's just been with a few families with no more than a year each time. And they weren't important to talk about. And yes, he's still thinking of Mr. Simpson. After all, he saw the murder when he was only seven, it's bound to stick with him a few years. If you've seen the third movie when he's 16 he still remember everything Chucky did. Anyway, sorry for the LONG delay. I'll be updating the next chapter in a few days!

**Nickie** **smith: **Thanks! I'm really glad you like this story! The beginning is a bit choppy, but I think I'm getting better. Sooooooooooo sorry for the long delay! Next chapter will be longer and up in a few days.


	9. Light in the Dark

**Playtime's Over**

**_Warning:_ Blood, violence, swearing…everything that Chucky loves. **

**Chapter 9: Light in the Dark**

The mall was open only until two a.m. which meant that it wouldn't be a good enough place to hide. He'd only be able to stay there for an hour before leaving. Sighing, Andy sat down on the floor in the corner of one of the closed restaurants and a clothes shop. There were only a few teenagers walking around the mall so it was pretty much empty. The janitor was roaming around as well, but Andy made sure to find an isolated place. The mall was so big that hopefully Chucky wouldn't be able to find him there or even figure out where he was hiding. He must've already been at the hospital.

_I hope Julie and Dan are alright! Maybe I should go back just to make sure…_

Andy took a deep, shaky breath and stood up. There was no point in being alone. If Chucky found him how would he fight him? He was just a child and although he had escaped Chucky's wrath many times he still wasn't a match for a murderer. And if he died then Chucky would just keep killing everybody, especially those involved in Andy's case trying to help prove his innocence. He made a mistake! He shouldn't have run away!

Quickly, Andy ran toward one of the exits. A loud crash made him stop suddenly, nearly slipping on the wet floor. Breathing heavily, Andy slowly approached the end of the hallway and peered around the corner. He saw a bucket that was tipped over and lying on its side with water rushing out. A mop was lying nearby it but there was no sign of anyone. Andy swallowed thickly, already feeling goodsebumps rise on his skin. This was too familiar to be comfortable and instead of checking it out to find a dead body he'd have to run as fast as possible out of there.

Taking several quiet steps back away from the corner, Andy suddenly wheeled around and ran in the opposite direction, heading to the other end of the mall. That exit was a bit farther, but there was more of a chance Chucky would be near the closer exit. His sneakers were making noise as he ran as fast as he could, turning around a corner by the beauty spa store and heading toward one of the side doors. The door was getting closer and closer. His adrenaline was pumping and his eyes were completely fixed on the door wanting to make it before anything bad happened.

A mannequin was suddenly hurled out in front of him and Andy gasped, having been so focused on the door to notice in time. It rolled out right in front of him and his foot tripped right over it sending him flying across the recently washed floor. Andy slid a ways on his arms feeling the burn from rubbing up against the tile. He winced, but tried not to cry out in case, by some miracle, the mannequin had fallen over by itself.

Soft, echoing footsteps made him leap to his feet. He backed away toward the door, looking in every direction. The door was only a few feet away, should he run for it? Before he could think of an answer a small figure appeared in front of him, making him stumble backward some more. Chucky's familiar malicious expression was highlighted by the lamps above. The long dagger in his hand still had a price tag on it, which meant he had snatched it from one of the stores in the mall. How long had he been there? How did he figure out where Andy went?

"Hello sport," Chucky's cold voice echoed, his blue, plastic eyes narrowing.

Andy was breathing irregularly now, frightened beyond belief. There didn't seem to be any way out of this. Even if he ran out the door, how would he lose Chucky? He'd just lead Chucky back to the hospital where he could hurt Julie and Dan, if he hadn't already.

Chucky twirled the dagger in his hand, sneering viciously. "Like the new knife? I figured I should get something brand new to end your life. After all, it will be a moment to remember. After chasing you for so long I'll finally be rid of you."

Andy's body was shaking with fear as Chucky posed the dagger, watching him with an intense gaze.

"There's no where to run, Andy. No one is going to save you this time. Not your dear mommy, not those police officers, no one…you're mine! And I'm going to make sure you pay dearly for ruining my chances at getting a body again!"

Andy wheeled around as fast as lightning and pushed himself out the door. He could hear Chucky's loud, quick footsteps and his angry yell but he didn't look behind him as he ran for his life. His adrenaline was pumping so hard his ears were ringing but he didn't dare slow down. Something solid and painful hit his back and Andy lost his balance. He cried out in pain but jumped up and continued running. He saw that he was nearing the edge of the sidewalk connected to the mall. Already he noticed cars that were driving on the main road. He raced toward the main road, hoping that Chucky wouldn't attack him if there were several cars that could clearly see him.

The muscles in his legs were aching so much but he didn't slow down—he couldn't! Not unless he wanted to die. He was quickly approaching the street already noticing a couple more cars coming down the road a short distance away. Andy screamed as something sliced at his leg—pain shooting up through his muscle. He was flung forward, unable to catch himself and rolled painfully off the curb and into the middle of the street. A horn sounded loudly and screeching as Andy lifted his head to see bright lights coming straight at him. The other car in the lane beside it sped up so fast and swerved suddenly, smashing directly into the car about to hit him.

Andy screamed and threw his arms over his head to protect himself. Loud scraping and the sound of brakes squealing made him wince, but he kept his eyes shut tightly. He heard a slight bang and made sure to keep his head down, not sure how close the cars were to him. As he lay there he heard car doors slamming and suddenly arms were grabbing him and hoisting him up.

"NO! STOP! LET ME GO!" Andy screamed, pounding his fists on someone's chest.

"Andy! Andy! It's me, Dan!"

Andy suddenly stopped, jerking his head up to see Dan staring down at him with concern. He threw his arms around him and squeezed him tight. Dan rubbed his back gently and Andy finally broke away, wiping at his eyes.

"Hey, can you get in the car for me? I've got to talk to this gentleman," Dan said, smiling gently.

Andy then noticed the other car that had almost hit him had swerved off balance and was sideways, having hit the curb but it didn't appear to have anything more than a dent where Julie and Dan's car hit it. Nodding, he watched as Dan walked over and pulled out his badge. The man, who seemed pretty young and frightened began speaking really fast as he gestured toward Andy for a quick second. Andy walked toward the car and got inside. Dan was finished in just a few minutes and both cars were able to drive away.

As Andy sat in the backseat, looking outside the window he wondered how long it would take Chucky to find him again. It usually didn't take long at all.

"Andy?"

He turned toward the front where Dan was looking back at him in the review mirror.

"What happened? Why aren't you at the hospital?"

Andy swallowed thickly, feeling tears sting his eyes again. "I just…I didn't want Chucky to kill you or Julie so I thought I should run away. The mall was the only place that was open…," Andy paused to take in a shaky breath, "but Chucky found me anyway. He said he was going to make me pay."

Dan's eyebrows furrowed with concern. "Alright, well we're heading back to the hospital now to get Julie and then we'll all get away from here and go someplace where there are a lot of people. We need to keep you safe for your hearing."

Andy glanced at him in surprise. "My hearing?"

Dan nodded. "Yeah, I was just on my way back from talking to the boss and there's enough evidence to make a case, a really good one in fact, to clear your name. Your friend Kyle's coming in to testify for you and Julie and I are testifying. We got you a very good attorney, so don't worry. He'll tell you everything that you need to expect from the court."

Andy nodded, his throat feeling too dry to speak. Was this really happening? Could his name be cleared? What did it matter…he would die soon anyway, but at least he could die without everyone thinking he was a murderer. Or maybe…maybe there was hope that Chucky would be destroyed permanently this time. After all, Dan and Julie had survived a lot longer than anyone, besides Kyle, that he had been with and they had actually gathered up the evidence to prove his innocence.

His thoughts were interrupted as Dan turned off the car. He helped Andy out and they went inside the hospital. The lights were off giving it a very creepy feel and Andy felt himself grab Dan's hand. Turning on a flashlight, Dan kept Andy close as he walked forward. He tried some of the lights but they didn't turn on.

"Seems the power has been cut," Dan said.

Andy made a frightened sound. "That's always what Chucky does before he kills someone."

Dan glanced down at him and his face hardened even more. Grabbing Andy's hand he walked quickly toward the stairs.

"Julie?" he called out.

Andy tried not to trip as Dan pulled him along, obviously worried about his partner. Andy's eyes caught sight of the counter and he saw someone's foot sticking out.

"Dan, over there!"

Dan stopped suddenly and looked to where Andy was directing. Quickly, he approached closer and shined his flashlight. The familiar pants were noticeable and Dan immediately ran forward, lifting up Julie's head.

"Julie! Julie, can you hear me?"

Andy knelt down fearfully, hoping that she was alright. A low groan caused Andy to look down and saw that Julie's eyes were flickering open. Dan helped her up as she became conscious again.

"Are you alright? What happened?" Dan asked.

"I was hit by a cart," Julie said, wincing as she rubbed her head. "It was too dark to see if there had been anyone in the room, but it looks like they left me alive."

"You were lucky!" Dan exclaimed, helping her to her feet.

Her eyes caught sight of Andy and she immediately embraced him. "Andy! Oh, I was so afraid when I saw you had left!"

"I'm so sorry," Andy murmured quietly, trying his best not to cry.

Dan put a hand on Julie's shoulder. "Andy said that he ran to the mall and that Chucky was there again. He said he'd make Andy pay. We've got to go somewhere where there's a lot of people to protect him before the hearing tomorrow."

"It's tomorrow?" Julie asked surprised. "How did you get it so fast?"

Dan's eyebrows rose. "Well, apparently this is a very big case and one that so many people want solved. It's the most mysterious case in the history of our profession."

He winked down at Andy and then gestured for them to follow. Julie gasped and wheeled around.

"Kara…she's….she's dead, Dan. Someone killed her."

Dan immediately glanced over the counter, covering his mouth from what he saw. "She's dead alright. There's nothing we can do except get out of here then call the police to come here. We're not safe here."

Julie nodded immediately and grabbed Andy's hand tightly as they went back to the car. They drove a while away and Julie sat in the back with Andy to keep him calm and distracted. They ended up at a 24 hour bar and found a seat in the back. There was a small dance floor and a very large bar counter where many people were seated. Some were seated at tables as well chatting happily. Julie had her arm around Andy as he leaned his head on her shoulder, obviously exhausted from not getting any sleep. Dan ordered a couple drinks for him and Julie, and a coke for Andy.

"So Andy, can you tell us what happened?" Julie asked quietly.

Andy lifted his head momentarily and looked around. "Even with people around?"

"It's too noisy here, kiddo," Dan smiled. "No one can hear us unless they were sitting at our table."

Andy nodded with relief. "Well…I went to the mall and I thought I was safe because it was so big. Chucky found me and had a real big knife in his hand. He said he was going to make me pay then he chased me."

"How does he get the remote control doll to do that?" Dan wondered aloud, folding his hands together.

"It's not a remote control!" Andy exclaimed, earning a surprised glance from both Julie and Dan. "He's real! He's really a doll! I know you both think I'm just a kid who thinks that he's real, but he's not controlled by anyone! There's no one else after me, just him. Charles Lee Ray used voodoo magic to put his soul into the soul of the doll so he's able to move around and talk in it. The reason why he was after me was not only because I witnessed him murdering people, but also because I was the first and only person, at six, who he told his secret to."

"What secret?" Julie asked, stunned.

Andy turned to face her. "That he's really Charles Lee Ray. According to the voodoo ritual he used, the first person he told his real name to would be the only person he could use to transfer his soul from the doll to their body. That's why he was after me all this time! He wanted a real body so that he could use my body to do these killings. That way he'd be able to use voodoo rituals to kill victims again and he knows how to make it so the police can't figure out who did it. And looking like me he would just frame someone else and act innocent."

Dan and Julie exchanged shocked glances and Julie leaned down toward Andy. "Are you sure Andy?"

"I'm positive! I swear to you he's real!"

"Well, that's what Kyle said too when I interviewed her," Dan added and Julie looked up at him.

"She said that?"

"Yeah. I just haven't figured out if we should let her say that to the court," Dan said.

Julie sighed heavily and shook her head. "We can't say that, no one would believe us."

"But it's true!" Andy exclaimed, as tears leaked out of his eyes and down his cheeks.

Julie immediately embraced him. "Shhh, it's alright, Andy. Listen to me," she said, gently pulling him back and wiping away his tears, "there's no way we can prove the doll is real or that voodoo magic is real. If we tried to prove that your innocence wouldn't be proven for many, many years. Maybe even after you're 80. Although we can't tell the courts the entire truth, we can tell them enough to convince them that someone else is doing these murders and framing you."

Dan nodded in agreement. "Yes, the most important thing now is to clear your name."

Andy glanced down at the table and very slowly he nodded. "I guess you're right. Even Kyle didn't want to believe Chucky was real even when she saw it with her own eyes."

"We saw it too and still thought he was being controlled, even though his movements didn't seem at all like a doll's," Julie added. "But look, the important thing is that everyone knows that you, a sweet, innocent little boy who's gone through too much trauma, isn't responsible. Then we can put you under the protection of the agency while the police are out there looking for the culprit."

"But no one will find him!" Andy said fearfully.

Dan leaned forward. "Maybe not, but they'll be looking for any suspicious murders. If we find out anyone has been murdered very recently we'll know where to track him. Even if the entire police force won't be looking for the doll, we will. Julie and I will track down the doll and stop him."

"He'll kill you!" Andy exclaimed. "He's not human!"

"Andy, shh, calm down," Julie said, bringing him close again. "You said you've destroyed him before, right? So there's got to be a way to destroy him again."

Andy thought hard and nodded. "Well every time he's been destroyed he's been completely blown up. The more time he spends in the doll's body the more human he becomes. So now that he doesn't have my body he'll be more vulnerable to gun shots and weapons. Last time, me and Kyle fought him in a Good Guy doll factory. We put him into the doll machine which puts doll pieces together. It forced plastic body parts into him and made him bleed a lot. His legs also got cut off so he found this thing that helped him wheel around. When he came after me, he came underneath a hot chemical machine and I poured it on him. It must have had some sort of acid in it because it ate away at the plastic."

"And he died?" Julie asked with wide eyes.

Andy shook his head. "Nope. He was weakened and he attacked Kyle again when she approached the gooey mess that was left to see if he was really dead. Then she stuck an air tube in his mouth and his head got so full of air it exploded. And then he died, but someone put him back together."

Dan sighed heavily rubbing his eyes. "Yep, that would be the detective agency of this area. The Killer Doll case had come up again because the Good Guys Doll Company was again losing business so they contacted the agency that had the leftovers of the doll they found blown to bits in the factory and said they wanted it put back together. There was a debate on that since the last time it was put together by the company itself the case came up again and more murders came up, involving you, Andy. But some idiot officer put it back together. They found the doll missing and the officer who had been alone had been killed."

Julie shook her head sadly, squeezing Andy tightly. "That's ridiculous. Some idiot cop thought he test out to see if the doll was really a killer. I suppose he got his answer."

They were all silent for a minute and Andy looked down at the table. "I don't know what we can do to stop him this time," Andy said quietly. "Maybe Kyle could help!"

Dan and Julie glanced at him and Dan shrugged. "Maybe, but we don't want to put anyone else's life in danger."

"Her life will already be in danger once she comes to court to testify for me," Andy insisted. "And she knows that! Chucky will find out about the hearing and who's involved. You both are already in danger too. Kyle knows that Chucky also tried to kill her and used her to get to me last time so he'll do it again."

"She must really care about you if she's coming here knowing the risks," Julie smiled sadly.

Andy nodded, smiling ever-so-slightly. "She does. She also felt terrible that all this time I had to lose my mom, my family, my friends, my life…everything. She wanted to do something for me but I told her there was nothing she could do. We had to go our separate ways. She was much older so she had to get a job and move someplace else, though she stayed at an orphanage for a while before she could support herself. The last time she wrote to me she had still been in the orphanage. Even though we didn't know each other for so long, we both survived Chucky trying to kill us. That really brought us close together. I truly felt like she was my older sister," Andy said quietly. "I don't want her to get hurt, but either way she'd get hurt. If Chucky's not stopped he'll track her down after killing everyone involved with this case because she knows about him. Once he's killed everyone involved he'll be able to go to other places all around the world and kill people. That's why he has to be stopped. Who knows…he could find someone who knows about voodoo magic and find a way to get a body despite having run out of time. That's what I'm really afraid of, is that he'll find someway to become…I don't know…"

"Immortal?" Dan suggested.

Andy nodded. "Yeah. And if that happens there will be no stopping him."

Dan took a deep breath. "Wow, this is like some freakish horror movie."

Julie shook her head in disbelief. "I can't believe he'd go this far. I remember stories about the Lake-Shore Strangler, but immortality…he's insane!"

"Most murderers are," Dan quipped, raising an eyebrow.

Julie shrugged in agreement and took a sip of her drink. Andy was drinking his silently, seemingly lost in thought. He couldn't help but thinking about everything that had happened so far. Just a couple years ago while he was still at the orphanage with no friends and no family, he actually thought about killing himself. He was so miserable and scared all the time he could scarcely sleep. Not to mention he had no one to talk about it with and he wasn't allowed to visit his mother. Everything had been going wrong.

The only friend he ever had was Kyle but she was too far away. They wrote now and then, but she hadn't been able to come to see him because she hardly had any money and was too busy. He had been so lonely…so unhappy and so ready to die. He'd rather have killed himself than allow Chucky to kill him or take over his body. For some reason, despite the depression, he never attempted to kill himself. He had had dreams about killing himself, nightmares about Chucky killing him, and even thought about dying, but somehow he kept living. It was like he had mentally given up, but his subconscious kept him alive. He ate like everyone else, was so quiet and barely spoke even to the staff at the orphanage, and his life passed by so slowly over the years that time didn't seem important to him. He did fairly well with his homework there being able to concentrate better all alone in his room. Despite having depression he hadn't gone crazy or been scarred in any other way. How was that possible?

"Andy, sweetie, you look tired. Maybe you should rest," Julie said, pulling him close so he could rest his head on her shoulder.

"Are we staying here all night?" Andy asked, holding back a yawn.

Julie smiled and nodded. "Yes and we'll most likely get in touch with some buddies who get off work around three a.m. so there will be more cops in here, in case the place gets less crowded."

Andy smiled gratefully and relaxed his muscles. "Thank you so much. You guys are the best."

Dan winked. "Of course we are."

Julie snorted and shook her head in amusement. "You just get some rest now and don't worry about a thing. We'll protect you."

Andy felt his eyelids drooping and soon closed his eyes completely. All the worry that had been harbored inside of him was released temporarily and it made him feel like he was melting—finally giving in to sleep which he hadn't had for so long. Insomnia wasn't very fun to have at seven all the way to thirteen. He fell asleep almost instantly, finally able to feel safe from Chucky.

**XXXXX**

When Andy woke he still felt a bit tired but was surprised to see that there were at five other officers sitting around the table with Dan and Julie. He could see reflections of sunlight hitting the glasses from the window and assumed it was morning. He had actually survived through the night. He shifted to lift up his head and Julie glanced down at him, having been holding him close while he slept.

"Good morning," she smiled. "You were out cold the entire night."

Andy yawned and rubbed his eyes. "What time is it?"

"It's almost eight. The hearing is at nine so we should get back to the hospital to get you cleaned up and dressed. Don't worry," she said, noticing Andy's wary expression, "it should be safe there. They were able to clean up the mess and take Kara's body away and then some officers stayed watch there with the other nurses so that the other patients weren't in danger. We won't be there for long anyway."

"Yeah, well I don't have to change since I have my suit in the car," Dan piped up. "I'll take Andy to the hospital so you can run back to your place and get dressed."

Julie nodded, "I'll meet you there."

The two of them said goodbye to the other officers who waved back and then they got into the car. Dan dropped Julie off at her place first before taking Andy back to the hospital. There were plenty of nurses and doctors bustling around so it certainly felt safer. A nurse was able to get them an empty room with a bathroom attached. Dan thanked her and closed the door.

"You ready to get cleaned up?"

Andy nodded sleepily, beginning to feel the pain from his wound come back.

Dan helped him with his shirt, being careful of the wound, and the rest of his clothes. Andy was able to get into the tub by himself, for the most part. He was still feeling disoriented and his wound still hurt a bit, but he was doing fairly fine for escaping death once again. Dan helped him wash up, making sure to clean the cut thoroughly, and then wrapped a towel around him when he was done.

"There you are. The nurse also said she'd bring you a change of clothes since your other ones were pretty dirty."

"Thanks," Andy said, wrapping his arms around himself.

"You alright?" Dan asked, concerned.

Andy nodded. "I'm just a bit nervous about this trial. What if they find me guilty?"

Dan sighed and knelt down so their eyes were level. "We've got a lot of evidence to prove you didn't do anything, Andy. We wouldn't have taken the chance if we didn't think there was a pretty good chance you could win. There's always the possibility of losing, but you shouldn't let that stop you. After all, you know you're innocent and as long as you know that the courts will see it. We're taking care of everything, alright? Besides, who could think a sweet kid like you is guilty?" he smiled.

Andy let a small smile show and shrugged. Dan just ruffled his hair right as the nurse came in with some clothes. Dan asked Andy if he needed help but he said he could handle getting dressed. As Andy got dressed Dan asked the nurse to bring in something to eat for the both of them. When Andy came out of the bathroom there was a small breakfast waiting with eggs, orange juice, some toast and a couple muffins. Gratefully, he sat down and began eating with Dan. Dan asked him casual questions as they ate, like what sports he enjoyed and whatnot. Andy wasn't able to say much about some of them since he really didn't have a normal childhood. Dan then explained some sports to him and told him a couple funny stories about his experience in sports.

By the time they were finished eating, the door opened and Julie stepped inside looking a lot brighter in a clean suit with a skirt and top set. She smiled at the sight of them talking and the empty dishes. Andy went over to give her a hug and she squeezed him comfortingly.

"You both ready to go?"

"Sure are!" Dan said, grabbing his suit jacket.

Although Andy was nervous a small part of him was excited. If he was proved innocent then that burden would vanish. He wouldn't have to worry about people being afraid of him, or not being able to be adopted. Perhaps he'd even get a chance to live with his mom again. He hadn't seen her for so long and it hurt him inside. He knew she wasn't crazy and she knew it but she had been cooped up in that place for so long probably worried that Andy had been killed. He was certain she got the newspaper so she would most likely find out about his hearing soon enough. Hopefully, Julie and Dan could take him to visit her sometime soon.

The drive to the courthouse wasn't that long and Andy became extremely nervous when they entered the room. An attorney came over and introduced herself as Carolyn Rose and shook Andy's hand. She then explained to him what was going on and to answer the questions truthfully and everything, but Andy also knew from before not to mention that Chucky was real, but that he thought he had been real. He had a pretty good idea now of what to say he just hoped that the judge wouldn't think he was insane, or lying.

Andy's eyes scanned the room and he saw that there wasn't a small jury like he thought there would be. Tugging on Dan's sleeve, he stood up on tip-toes to whisper in his ear.

"Why isn't there a jury?"

"Because there's no one trying against you. Obviously those that are dead have no say either way, but it's the state against you. Basically, we just have to convince the judge you're innocent. Don't worry though, we've got witnesses all ready to come in when it's their turn," he smiled.

Andy nodded and was lead to a sit next to his attorney. Apparently, even though Dan and Julie were serving as witnesses as well, they were allowed to remain in the room. They sat in the benches and Andy nervously sat in his seat behind the table up front. Carolyn put a comforting hand on his arm for reassurance.

"All rise for Judge Swartz," an officer announced.

Immediately, Andy stood up as an elderly man walked in. He had a neutral expression on his face so Andy couldn't tell if he seemed like a nice judge or a mean judge. Gulping, he sat down when the judge gestured for everyone to sit.

The judge looked through the papers on his desk and his eyes glanced over at Andy.

"This hearing is for Andy Barclay, suspected of having killed several people. Please begin."

"Your honor," Carolyn said, standing up. "I would like to ask that Andy come forward and tell his story."

The judge nodded. "Proceed."

Carolyn gently held his arm and led him up to the stand. He was only thirteen so he didn't have to swear on the Bible to tell the truth but he was asked to put his right hand over his heart to swear to tell the truth.

"I do," Andy answered sincerely and then sat down.

"Andy, please tell your story about the murders."

Nodding, Andy licked his lip and began from the beginning, explaining how he was happy with his mom even though they weren't making much money. He had wanted a Good Guy doll so bad that year that his mom found a homeless man and bought it off of him. Andy explained how he was so excited to have his own Good Guy doll until strange things started happening. He explained how the doll said things it wasn't supposed to say and it even swore to him—words that he had never heard before as a six year old. He then explained about how everywhere the doll seemed to be someone would die. He told them his remembrance of the night his mom's friend was killed while babysitting him. He told them he thought it was his doll because there were flour marks on the doll's shoes and in the kitchen there had been small footprints in the flour that had been spilt.

He told how no one believed him and how after a couple other murders Andy tried to get away from the doll. He was separated from his mother and locked away, knowing that Chucky would come for him. He explained how he saw the doll walking around and talking and how it even held weapons. It tried to kill him with a knife and everything. He then explained about when he met Kyle and how he was afraid the Good Guy doll there was the one that was different from all the others—the bad one. Andy's throat was feeling dry by the time he got around to explaining how the doll had seemed to tie him to the bed while he was sleeping but Kyle had found him. Then he said that Kyle had also seen the doll, after Andy had been taken away. He then finished by saying how Kyle tried to save him from the doll that could attack them and they ended up destroying the doll.

By the time he was done, he felt a little more relieved at having gotten it all out. Carolyn nodded, having been listening very intently.

"So you see, your Honor, there's no way this boy at six or seven could've done those murders. After all, Kyle even told the police later that after Andy had left was when the foster mother had been killed. They suspected it could've been a suicide, but from the way she was tied up there was no way she could've done it to herself. To further justify this, though, I would like to call in the first witness, Kyle."

The judge nodded and an officer gestured that Andy could get down and return to his seat. The door opened and Kyle stepped inside. She looked older now with long straight blonde hair wearing a simple headband instead of the large bows Andy remembered her wearing. She was wearing heels and long black dress pants with a white blouse. She was very pretty wearing an elegant outfit. It wasn't that she hadn't been pretty before but now that Andy was older he could see her beauty more clearly. He gave her a small smile as she approached and she slipped him one back.

Kyle placed her hand on the Bible and swore to tell the truth. As she sat down Carolyn approached her.

"Kyle, you told the police about the night yours and Andy's foster mother, Joanne Simpson, died. You said that she had been killed. Who could've killed her?"

"It was the same person who had been after Andy, the doll," she said right away. "I witnessed the doll moving, talking, and holding sharp objects. It could throw things and talked like a normal man would—it said terrible things. It frightened me. And I knew that it was what killed Joanne because after Andy had been taken away, having been so scared of the doll, I threw it away in the trashcan and then went on the swing for a smoke. I heard a bang and turned around to see nothing out of the ordinary and this was just five minutes after throwing the doll away—stuffing it deep inside the trashcan. I walked over to the trashcan and lifted the lid and the doll was gone. There had been no footsteps, no sign of anyone else being there and I wouldn't suspect anyone could walk to the trashcan and take the doll out within five minutes while I was there. The window to Joanne's room was open when it hadn't been before. I knew something was wrong.

"When I went up there I found her dead and before I knew what was happening I was attacked from behind. The attacker was small, that much I was sure. I threw him off and saw that it was a doll—the same doll that I had thrown away. I didn't know how it could walk, talk and hold a knife at my throat to force me to go to the orphanage to get Andy, but it did."

"It held a knife to you?" she asked. "Was the knife bloody?"

"Yes, actually. I could see smears of blood, but it wasn't dripping blood. I assumed it was the same knife used to kill Joanne," Kyle responded. "And he killed the woman in charge of the orphanage: Grace Poole, right in front of my eyes."

Carolyn nodded. "And the knife was tested for fingerprints, as you'll find here," she said, handing a sheet to the judge. "No fingerprint was found except for Kyle's, because she had touched it. However, just recently for this case I got in touch with officers Julie and Dan several days ago and we took out this weapon again and had it put in a slightly acidic chemical concoction which hopefully would draw out anything that was too faded to see. We found a partial fingerprint on it besides Kyle's.

"Although it wasn't a complete fingerprint by the partial pattern we got we also determined that it was definitely not Andy's fingerprint either. And it didn't match Joanne or Phil Simpson either. That means that someone else was in that house the night that both Phil and Joanne died. Whether or not the fingerprint belonged to Charles Lee Ray is irrelevant at this time because it is clear that Andy didn't kill them. And Phil Simpson had his neck broken and there were no fingerprints on his bodies to show that Andy had even remotely touched him. He could've fallen down the stairs, or it could've been the doll, but it wasn't Andy.

"Now, Kyle, you said you witnessed the doll killing Grace Poole. Can you please explain?" Carolyn finished, turning back to Kyle.

"After I pulled the fire alarm, the doll still held the knife at my back. Grace Poole came out and saw me and Andy so she brought us into her office. Both of us were too afraid to speak and when she saw the doll she snatched it away. Then the doll seemed to come to life and stabbed her several times in the chest with the knife it had been holding at my back. I tried to grab Andy and pull him out of the room but the door was slammed in front of me."

"So you actually saw this doll holding the knife and stabbing Mrs. Poole?"

"Yes," Kyle answered.

Carolyn nodded. "And can you explain what happened afterward?"

"I don't know what happened inside the room with Andy and the doll. All I know is the doll forced him to climb out the window and toward a truck to hide in the back. I followed them with my car and saw the doll pointing the knife at Andy's throat. Andy was lying down with his hands at his side so I knew what I had seen about the doll had been true. And so I followed them to the Good Guy doll factory and I heard the doll saying something like a chant. It sounded almost like French and I had no idea what he was saying. I followed his voice and climbed up on the boxes and looked down. Andy was trying to scoot away from the doll. The doll held the knife in its hand and called Andy a little shit. And then it posed as if to stab him. In fact, I distinctly remember it saying: 'Now I'm fucking trapped inside this body.' And then he threatened to kill Andy and that's when I pushed boxes over on top of him. It actually chased us throughout the store and tried to get Andy. We managed to escape but just barely. In order for the doll to stop chasing us we had to destroy it, which we did. It blew up from having too much air inside it."

"And there was blood splattered once it exploded wasn't there?" Carolyn asked.

"Yes," Kyle answered.

"We actually had a piece of a bloody-plastic party tested. It turned out that the doll had been filled with blood possibly and the blood appeared to be Charles Lee Ray's," she said handing several documents to the judge. "I'm not saying it's possible he's living inside a doll, but I'm saying that Andy believed his doll was a killer for a reason. It is able to kill. Whether it's remote-controlled or what someone else is planning these murders and framing an innocent boy. I would now like to call the next witness, your Honor."

The judge nodded again and Kyle was able to leave, sitting down in one of the benches. She gave Andy a soft smile for reassurance.

"Detective Julie Larkspar, please come to the stand," Carolyn gestured.

Julie approached the stand and swore on the Bible to tell the truth before sitting down.

"You were assigned to this case, correct?"

"Yes," she answered.

"And when you first heard about this case what did you think?"

"I had my doubts that a little boy could commit murder so I was really anxious to try and figure it out."

"What did you find out?" Carolyn asked.

"I found out that what Andy witnessed was true. The doll can walk, talk, throw objects, hold weapons and even kill."

"Did you see it kill anyone?" she asked.

"No, but I did see it holding a knife at Andy while Andy was lying down."

Carolyn nodded. "So, Andy was in the same position that Kyle saw him with the doll?"

"Yes, it sounds that way," Julie answered.

"What else did you find out?"

"I found out that Andy was innocent because I was trying to protect him in the hospital and one of the nurse's was killed at least twenty minutes after Andy had run away. Also there were wounds on Andy's body, like the slash on his chest."

"Alright. And, your Honor, on the body of Kara Mitzfield, there were tiny child-like handprints, too small to be Andy's," she said, handing him yet another document. "That'll be all detective, thank you."

Julie left and went to sit down next to Dan again. Carolyn turned back to the judge.

"I would like to call another witness your Honor. Shalice Milestone."

Andy's eyes widened and he turned in his seat to see Shalice being helped inside. She looked a bit weak but otherwise she was alive, which meant Chucky hadn't killed her. Feeling relief flood through him, Andy gave her a sincere smile as she passed. Once she was up front she swore on the Bible and slowly sat down.

"Shalice, you were the agent assigned to question Andy, right?"

"Yes. I am actually a reporter but my friend Marlek is…was a cop. He was going to question Andy just for his own curiosity. He wasn't assigned to the case, but he had heard about it. Most people had heard about it. He never made it though. And when I came back to the police station I found out he had been killed."

"And when you went to the orphanage Andy wasn't there, right?"

"Yes," Shalice said.

"Where was he?"

"He had run away to the police station."

"When did you find him there?"

"He was running toward the police station in the garage a couple hours after the body had been discovered. He looked terrified and he was bleeding a little. He told me someone was trying to kill him."

"And then what happened?" Carolyn asked.

"And then we went inside and I questioned him. He told me the doll can kill people and I didn't believe him at first, but when we were leaving the elevator was coming up and we hadn't even pushed the button. Andy was terrified so we ran. I locked him inside a room to keep him safe and went to go find a weapon. A piece of glass was thrown at me right after I had locked Andy in the room. I went to go get help but the phone lines had been cut. I was able to e-mail Detective Larkspar before the entire power was cut. I went back into the room and Andy was backed up against the wall, terrified. I came in and Andy screamed for me to look out. He pushed me out of the way and I saw a knife slash at his chest. When I looked there was a doll standing in the doorway with a large knife and Andy was bleeding. He took the hit for me," she finished, glancing over at him and smiling gratefully.

"So you saw the doll slash him?"

"Yes. And then he slashed at me while Andy was trying to tell me to run. He sliced my stomach and I passed out from loss of blood and when I awoke I was in the hospital."

Carolyn nodded. "Your Honor, you can see by this sheet," she said, handing him another paper, "that the blood found in that room was Andy's and Shalice's. Not only that but the weapon had been retrieved from the wall and analyzed. Both Andy's and Shalice's blood were on the knife. Thank you Ms. Milestone."

Shalice nodded and was helped down and able to sit on the benches. Carolyn smiled at Andy and turned back to the judge.

"Your Honor I would like to call my last witness: former Detective Mike Norris."

Andy turned around in his seat, surprised. He knew that name…that was the officer that first tried to help him and his mom destroy Chucky when he was six. Was he finally speaking out?

The door opened and the familiar face approached him. He glanced over at Andy briefly before taking his seat and swearing upon the Bible to tell the truth.

"Mr. Norris, you knew Andy's mother Karen, correct?" Carolyn asked.

"Yes, I did," he answered.

"And how did you know her?"

"I was the one who came to the house the night Maggie Peterson was killed."

"And you talked to Mrs. Barclay after the incident, correct? And what did she say?"

"Yes. She told me the second time we met that her son was in danger and that the doll was really alive. I laughed at her and drove away, but I decided to check out Charles Lee Ray's record just out of curiosity."

"What made you check it out when you knew that you had killed him?" Carolyn asked.

He shifted uncomfortably before answering. "It was just a feeling. I took his folder to look at it at home and when I get into my car I was attacked. My car flipped over because someone was choking me from behind so I couldn't drive. A knife was also cutting through my seat to try and get at me. When the car was flipped over I saw a doll approach me with a knife in its hand. I shot at it and it ran away."

"And it was a Good Guy doll?"

"Yes."

"And it had a knife that it tried to stab you with?"

"Yes."

"When was the next time you saw the Barclay's?"

"After that I went to go find Mrs. Barclay because I believed her and wanted to help her. We found out Andy had run away and Mrs. Barclay knew he went home. When we got there I saw the doll leaning over Mrs. Barclay's son. I heard him chanting something as well. The doll attacked Mrs. Barclay and I helped pull it off of her. I chased after the doll with my gun, but it snuck up on me and stabbed me in the leg. It came at me with a bat. When I woke up Mrs. Barclay told me she shot at it with my gun. My partner came over to help and I told him about the doll. He picked up the head of the doll from the floor and then he was attacked by the doll—a headless doll I might add that was choking him. I shot at its body aiming right for where a human heart would be and blood splattered on the wall. Then it stopped moving."

"Did it look like it was being controlled?"

"Not at all. The way that it moved wasn't robotic. I'd almost say it was alive."

"And is it true you quit your job about six months after that incident?"

"Yes," he answered. "When I realized what had happened—that I couldn't help this poor boy and his mom I felt terrible. I knew I wouldn't be able to live with myself as a detective any longer because everything would remind me of them. I never spoke up to help the boy and his mother because…because I thought people might send me into an institution or something. And then I would be fired from my job and probably no one would hire me. I should've spoken up sooner though. Then maybe all these other murders wouldn't have happened. And I could've helped them," he said, finally glancing over at Andy and giving him a somber look.

"Thank you Mr. Norris."

He nodded and stood up and walked by Andy. He gave him a slight nod and Andy gave him a grateful smile and watched as he walked out of the room. He turned back to the front, hoping and praying that it was enough for the judge.

"Your Honor, that is all the evidence I have for you. Andy's fingerprints never showed up on any of the bodies or any of the weapons found. Also, he wasn't the only one to see the doll move, talk and attack people. Thank you," she said and sat back down.

"Excuse me for a few minutes while I look at all these papers again," the judge said as he got up and left.

Andy nervously moved around in his seat but Carolyn put a hand on his shoulder.

"Have some faith, Andy."

He gave her a half-hearted smile and waited for about ten minutes before the judge came back into the room. He cleared his throat and Andy anxiously sat up in his seat, feeling his heart pounding uncomfortably in his chest.

"From this evidence there isn't anything here to show who the culprit is. Most of the fingerprints are only partial or half on the weapons. And it is impossible to think a doll is alive."

Andy's heart sank considerably and the feeling of dread came over him. This was it. Even though he had survived and had witnesses Chucky would win both ways. He would kill Andy and no one would ever believe he had been innocent.

"However," the judge continued, "there is nothing here that suggests that Andy has hurt or attacked any of the victims and there does not seem to be any correlation between him and the culprit. By the wounds on his body and his blood being found at the scene of the crime I do believe he was also a victim. Although it is strange to me that he has been at nearly every crime scene, enough people have convinced me that there is something else going on. The fact that more people have seen this doll and the fact that the boy nearly sacrificed his life for someone has convinced me that he is innocent of any of the murders," he said, knocking once with the hammer on his desk.

Andy thought for sure he would faint from shock and was only snapped out of his daze when Julie, Dan, Carolyn, Kyle and Shalice came up to him to hug and congratulate him. The judge nodded toward him and smiled and then walked out of the room.

"Oh Andy, this is wonderful! Just wait until I write an article about this!" Shalice said, giving him a gentle hug. "I will make sure to let everyone know about this."

Andy smiled brightly. "Thank you. If it wasn't for all of you everyone would still think I'm a murderer."

"Well, now they'll know the truth, at least most of it," Julie answered, smiling.

"It's time for me to go home and rest," Shalice said. "And I've got to get started on my article."

"I believe it's time for be to go as well," Carolyn smiled.

"Thank you," Andy stated sincerely toward both of them.

They both congratulated him again before leaving. Kyle bent down and hugged Andy tightly.  
"I am so happy for you. You really deserve this, after everything you've been through."

"Thank Kyle," Andy smiled once she released him. "Are you staying around?"

"Of course. Dan tells me there have been more murders," she said, her smile disappearing.

Andy nodded. "Yeah…Chucky's back again and he wasn't able to get my body. He'll want to kill me now."

"Don't worry, sweetie, remember you can stay with us at the police headquarters where you will be protected, now that your name's cleared," Julie said.

"I'll come too," Kyle insisted.

"Of course!" Julie smiled.

Andy's eyes brightened and then suddenly dimmed and his smile vanished.

"What if Chucky finds us there?"

"There will be plenty of officers there to help out, don't worry kiddo," Dan said, ruffling his hair.

Andy took a deep breath and nodded. "Alright. I guess I should just be happy my name is finally cleared. I just hope Chucky can be destroyed for the last time this time around."

"We'll find a way," Kyle said, bending down to stare at him seriously. "We destroyed him last time so we can destroy him again. We're in this together, right?"

Andy glanced down at her hand and smiled before lifting his own hand to shake hers.

"Right."

"Alright you two, let's head out so we can stop for some take-out before going there," Dan said, gesturing for them to leave.

Andy held Kyle's hand as they all walked out together. He felt like a huge rock had been lifted off his shoulders. At least something had finally gone right. Now all that needed to be done was the last step: to kill Chucky.

_TO BE CONTINUED…_

To Reviewers: 

**My mortal soul**: Thanks for the idea! Sorry, but Tiffany's not going to be in this story. I'm totally leaving out any Child's Play movie after the second. Anyway, thanks for reviewing!

**DarkKryshna**: Sorry it's been forever! Yeah, I totally gave up on it for a while…it was on hiatus. But now I'm back to finishing it! Hope you enjoy! And don't worry, I will finish it!

**DarknessFell1418:** Thank you! Hope you enjoy the next chapters!

**Angela**: Thank you so much! This is really my first horror story, but it's been such a long time since I updated it that I think I've gotten a little better at writing. Thank you so much! Hope this wasn't too long of a wait, I'll definitely try and update soon!

**EternallyEC:** Hey! Thanks so much! I'm glad you're liking it so far! I know…has it really been that long? Argh! I'm so mad at myself! I guess it was on hiatus for a while because I wasn't into Child's Play anymore, but I really hate leaving a story unfinished. Don't worry I'm back to writing it now so I can finish it! It will be completed, promise!


	10. The Final Battle

**Playtime's Over**

Author's Note: Sorry this took SO long to update guys! I promised I would finish it and I have! It just took longer than expected. School and work have consumed my life! But here it is the last chapter! And a special thanks to **MuffinsAreUglyCupcakes** for e-mailing me to my FF account and reminding me to finish this up! Thanks! :-)

**Chapter 10: The Final Battle**

The room was rather dim and the lights flickered now and again. It was the perfect place for Chucky to come, but they were surrounded by enough police officers coming in and out of the station that it didn't seem Chucky would risk it yet. He would bide his time. Andy knew that Chucky wanted to kill him for good this time. It was a matter of him figuring out how to destroy Chucky for the last time.

Kyle was sitting next to him, biting on her nail. And the investigators Dan and Julie who had helped clear his name were sitting in front of a computer screen with Chucky's information gleaming at them. The infamous Charles Lee Ray and his reported killings before they even knew who was behind them. Then all those mysterious deaths that Andy had either witnessed, or people he had known. They had all been silent for the longest time. None of them knew how to stop Chucky.

Andy glanced at Dan then at Julie and back to Kyle. These people had helped him. Kyle had helped him out while they were at the Simpsons and now she was back. All of them were in danger. Chucky had managed to kill everyone close to Andy. In fact, Andy wasn't even sure his mom was still alive. He had heard she was released from the psych ward of an institution while he was staying with the Jacques, his more recent and now deceased foster family, but he didn't know where she was or if Chucky went after her. Did that mean Chucky was too powerful? Was the voodoo magic he used to transfer his soul into the doll more powerful than any of the weapons they had?

Suddenly, the idea struck him like a bolt of lightning. Andy sat up straight in his seat, drawing Kyle's attention.

"Andy, was is it?"

Dan stopped tapping his pen on his desk and turned to look at him as well. And Julie, who was standing over Dan's shoulder reading Chucky's information glanced his way.

"I have an idea, but…I don't know if we can do it."

"Hey, it's ok sport, anything is better than nothing," Dan said.

Andy's eyes widened so large that Dan's expression faltered.

"Please don't call me that," Andy said. "Chucky calls me that."

Dan exchanged a look with Julie and nodded. "Sorry, Andy. What's your idea?"

"Chucky used to know this voodoo guy. I don't know what his name was, but my mom told me she met the guy. They used to be friends or something and this voodoo guy taught Chucky some incantations. And one of them Chucky used to get inside the doll. My mom told me though that his voodoo guy is dead – Chucky killed him," Andy said, glancing down.

Dan's shoulders slumped and he nodded.

"But maybe there was some information in the guy's house, you know like incantations, or something. You know, something we could use against Chucky," Andy said.

Kyle gasped. "That's brilliant Andy. Perhaps it wasn't just Chucky and this voodoo guy. I bet it was a whole group of them, like a cult or something. They probably all practiced this voodoo magic. So if we find someone from that group, someone who knew the voodoo guy then maybe they will know how to stop Chucky!"

"Yes, exactly," Andy said, leaning forward.

"Ok!" Dan said, clapping his hands together. "First things first. We've got to find out what this voodoo guy's name was and where he was living. We can find out who knew him if we at least know the area he lived in."

Andy described to him approximately around what month and time it had happened. He also told him that his mother had mentioned the man died of injuries that looked as though he had fallen down a flight of stairs.

"I think I've got it! His name was Dr. Death."

Andy blinked. "Dr. Death?"

"Well, it was his voodoo practioner name. And it does say here he had an occult group named The Spirit Guides. I'll bet I can track down the names of all participants of this group. I just need to call a friend for a bit of help. It shouldn't take too long."

Dan instantly got up to make the phone call and Andy slumped back in his seat. Kyle smiled at him and placed her hand over his.

"Hey, it's a great idea."

Andy sighed. "Yeah, I just hope we can figure out how to stop him before he finds us."

Kyle and Julie exchanged looks, but neither one said anything. They knew it was true.

**XXXXXXXXX**

_Nearby the Police Station at a Hunting Supplies store_

A gruff man with a gray stubbly beard and messy gray hair walked to the store and turned over the open sign. He headed over to where his nice collection of guns sat to arrange them more neatly.

"Damn business is getting slow these days," he muttered. "I should really consider moving to a state where hunting is more popular."

A loud knock came at his door. He wheeled around and stomped over to the door. He looked out but couldn't really tell if anyone was there. It was already dark out so perhaps he just couldn't see the person. Touching the pocketknife he held in his left pocket, he unlocked and opened the door. To his surprise no one seemed to be there. Quickly he stepped out and looked around to see if the person had just dashed off. Mumbling under his breath, he stepped back inside and locked the door.

Something moved off to his right and he wheeled around. "Is someone there?" he said firmly.

There was no sound. The man slowly walked back toward his guns and took one of the smaller rifles off the shelf. Then he went back behind the counter to get bullets and gasped when he saw bullets lying on the floor. He heard a click and he wheeled around.

His eyes widened as he saw a doll standing on his desk pointing a small pistol at him.

"Be a good man and show me where your best knives are," Chucky said, as his plastic mouth widened.

The man gasped loudly and backed up into the wall clutching the rifle to his chest. There was no way he was seeing this. The doll laughed hysterically – a laugh that was somewhat high, but crazy-sounding. Almost as if the doll was real – as if it was a psychotic man laughing at him. And then the gun clicked and the man barely opened his mouth before two shots were fired into his chest. He slumped down dead on the floor and the rifle fell from his hands.

Chucky sneered at him and then threw the gun at his feet. "I won't be able to run fast with these huge guns. I need a small knife that I can just slip into these…," Chucky glared down at the overalls he was still wearing. "This goddamn body! When I find you, Andy," Chucky swore as he turned around.

He suddenly stopped when he saw something on the counter. It was a newspaper. What caught his eye was the headline: **Andy Barclay Innocent. **It was in bold and very hard to miss. Chucky picked up the paper and read the article.

"I don't believe it! That son-of-a-bitch got his name cleared! And that means those detectives are definitely onto me. If they think they can stop me, they've got another thing coming!"

Chucky searched around the store until he found the knives. There was a particular one he was drawn too. It was the perfect size for him to hide in the overalls and more importantly it had the same kind of handle as the knife he used to have as a boy. He took down the knife from the shelf and touched the smooth handle. It did remind him of his own knife; the knife that he had stolen from the first man he ever killed at age 15. It was such a beautiful knife that Chucky stole it and carved his own initials in it.

And then his mother – that bitch! She took the knife away from him. She had found it in his room one night and told him that it was much too dangerous to play with. Then she grounded him. Well, he'd had enough of that slutty, stupid, old wench by that time. He knocked her out and while his drunk father was still passed out on the couch he set the place on fire and never looked back.

"This will do the trick. After all, he's still just a boy. And those cops can't protect him for long," Chucky said, laughing as he slipped the knife into his overalls.

**XXXXXXXXX**

Dan had kept his promise. He had located one of the members of the voodoo group – a man by the name of Shaka. Through some investigating and phone calls, Dan tracked down where this man Shaka lived. So Andy, Dan, Julie and Kyle all got into a black undercover police car with tinted windows, to help hide Andy, and drove off to the location. Unfortunately, the man Shaka lived a couple hours away so it was a long drive. Andy stared out the window thinking about what he would ask the man. He tried not to think about Chucky finding all of them and killing them all while they were there.

Andy was surprised that Chucky hadn't killed Shaka or anyone else who was part of the group. Maybe Shaka knew the answer to that.

"You ok, Andy?" Kyle asked.

Kyle and Andy were in the back seat. Julie, who was in the passenger's seat turned to glance at him.

"I guess," Andy said quietly. "It's just…I'm worried that maybe we'll get there and the man, Shaka I mean, won't know anything and we'll be right back to where we started. And…"

"And?" she asked.

"Well…what if Chucky killed my mother too," Andy said, glancing at her. "He's killed everyone close to me, except for you so far. And my mom also knew about him and she tried to help me. She had to suffer by being locked in an institution for two years when she didn't need to be. I just found out recently while I was with the Jacques, my foster family, that she was released. But Chucky could have found her and killed her, just like he did with the Jacques."

Andy didn't realize there were tears dripping down his face until Kyle hugged him tightly.

"Hey, look at me."

Andy glanced up at her and wiped at his eyes.

"Your mother's strong, just like you are, Andy. She's fine. I'm sure she desperately wants to see you too."

"Then why hasn't she ever tried to find me?"

Kyle looked surprised. "Andy, I'm sure she has tried. For one thing, she lost custody of you so she would need permission from the court to come see you. And even if she's out of the institution and doesn't need permission from the court anymore, I'm sure it's hard to track down where you are. You moved away to the orphanage and then you moved to the Jacques and now you're with Julie and Dan. She may not be able to find you. But you know what? When this is all over with and we beat Chucky once and for all, we can go find your mother."

Andy's hopes rose. "Really?"

"Yes, I promise."

Andy smiled softly and Kyle ruffled his hair.

"We're here," Dan announced.

The car stopped in front of a small yet homey looking house. It was rather isolated and out in the country, but yet not too far from the city. Andy stepped out hoping that this wouldn't be a waste of time. They all approached the door and Dan knocked loudly. After a minute, a woman opened the door. She had on a long dress and her hair was black and very long. She appeared almost Native American to Andy, but he wasn't sure.

"May I help you?" she asked. She spoke with a slight accent.

"Yes, we're looking for Shaka. It's very urgent that we speak with him," Dan said. "We need his help."

The woman nodded and gestured for them to come inside. They walked through the small house. There were fur rugs in front of a small fireplace in the living room. And through the small kitchen, they were led to a patio outside. A man smoking a pipe was seated looking out at the green grass and trees.

"Shaka?"

The man turned and the woman spoke to him in her native tongue. The man turned to them all and nodded.

"Please sit down. What can I do for you?"

Dan approached him as Kyle and Andy sat down in chairs. Julie seated herself on the porch swing.

"Forgive us for intruding. This may sound really odd to you, but this has to do with the Spirit Guides group you were a part of. Do you remember a man named Charles Lee Ray?"

Shaka stared at Dan for a minute inhaling his pipe and he nodded. "I remember that group. And yes, I do recall a man there by the name of Charles. We all were referred to by our Spirit names however. Charles I believe was Flamebearer, and I was Windbearer. It is a part of my ancestry to practice such magic. My ancestors were shamans and used to practice rituals for the good of their villages back in the day. Unfortunately, once I got married and was forced to move when I got a job offer here, I had to quit the group."

"And do you recall Dr. Death?" Dan asked.

"Yes, he was our leader. He knew more about spiritual guidance and rituals than any of us. It seemed that he had a way with magic more than we could ever understand. Why?"

"You must have heard that Dr. Death died," Dan said.

Shaka's face turned grave. "Yes. I paid my respect by going to the funeral."

"He didn't just die though, he was murdered," Julie spoke up. "By Charles Lee Ray, or…Flamebearer," she muttered sarcastically.

Shaka looked confused. "Charles did that? Nobody ever told me that."

"Because there's no proof. Look, long story short, Charles was wanted for murder. He was the Lake-Shore Strangler than you might have heard rumors about," Dan explained. "There was a detective who went after him and shot him, badly wounded him. But Charles, or Chucky rather as he's known now, he used a voodoo ritual to transfer his soul and put it into a doll."

"By Gods," Shaka said. "The ritual actually worked."

"Yes, it worked," Dan said. "And as a doll he told his secret to Andy," he said, glancing at Andy.

Shaka turned and glanced over at him.

"And Chucky found out from Dr. Death that because he revealed his secret to Andy the only way he can get out of the doll's body is to kill Andy by transferring his soul into Andy's body. So he's been after him for several years now. He's killed almost everyone Andy's loved to get to him."

Shaka's expression became sad and Andy looked away briefly. "I'm very sorry, young boy."

Andy glanced back at him and nodded. "Please, you're our only hope. Is there anything that can stop him?"

"Yes, please, because even when the doll's body is destroyed he comes back," Kyle interjected. "Well, mostly because idiots keep putting the doll back together. So if we could just destroy him and hide the remains so that no body can put him back –"

"That's no good," Shaka said, shaking his head. "Once the ritual is complete nothing can kill him like that. He may begin to become more vulnerable and be trapped in the doll's body, but to actually stop him from ever coming back…"

He paused and then he glanced at Andy, before looking at them all. "When Charles did the ritual, he sacrificed his own afterlife for immortality. It's a dangerous and risky ritual. Most of the time it's ineffective because so much can go wrong. If everything is not in order or the chant is not said correctly, the person can die. It's why no one has ever tried any of these more dangerous rituals – not even Dr. Death. He never dared mess with forces beyond his control or comprehension. And we all respected him for that. Well, everyone but Charles."

"So even if the doll's destroyed he still lives?" Kyle asked.

"Yes, even if his body is destroyed because he lives in something that is not alive, he would be able to find a way back. Because he has gained immortality eventually the doll pieces would come back together due to the voodoo magic that is inside the doll now and has his soul connected with it. So long as his soul lives, he will always come back," Shaka explained.

"It can't be…there has to be a way to stop him," Julie said, glancing at Dan.

They all glanced at Andy and he looked down at his hands. Shaka set his pipe down on the table and stood up.

"There is still hope," he said, as Andy raised his head in surprise. "There is a way to stop him, but it's dangerous."

"We don't have a choice so please tell us," Dan said. "He's after all of us and he won't stop until we're all dead and then he'll keep killing. And we're the only ones who knows about the voodoo ritual and the fact that he's hiding in a doll's body. He'll never be stopped unless we stop him."

Shaka nodded. "Very well. Wait here a moment. I must retrieve something from the attic."

He left the room and Andy looked at Kyle. "Whatever it is, I hope it works."

She nodded. "Me too."

"Would anyone like some tea and cookies?" the woman asked, suddenly appearing in the doorway.

Andy nodded. "Thank you."

"Of course," she said smiling. "My name is Nataka. Please make yourselves at home."

She set the tea tray in front of them on the table and Andy took a cookie. Kyle and Julie poured themselves a cup of tea with sugar but Dan didn't touch anything. He was still standing and didn't sit until Julie pulled him down next to her. After a few minutes of silence, Shaka appeared holding a battered book. It was dusty and rather old looking. Shaka sat back down and held the book up.

"This is the book that we all used in the group. It was Dr. Death's, but after his death there were so many of his possessions that his family didn't know what to do with. Since I went to the funeral, I noticed this among the boxes of his things and I asked if I could keep this. I knew that it held valuable and even dangerous incantations. Some of these are rather harmless. And most of them are rituals of prayer and guidance. But there are two rituals in here that are one of the more dangerous ones – the ritual that Charles used to get inside the doll," he said, "and a ritual to undo that one."

Andy's heart almost stopped in his chest. "Wait, there's a ritual to undo the incantation he performed to get into the doll?"

"Yes, but like I said, it's almost as dangerous as the ritual Charles used. You have to say it correctly and you have to perform all aspects of it correctly and in the right order. Like I said before, none of us have ever dared to try these dangerous rituals. Only Charles has ever tried and succeeded. And he was the most skeptical of us all."

Slowly, Shaka handed the book out toward Andy, who stared at him with surprise. He reached out for it and gripped it tightly. Shaka stared at him intently and didn't let go of the book right away.

"Since you are the one connected to Charles – the very first and only person Charles himself revealed his secret to, you must be the one to do the ritual. I will help you on the pronunciation of some of these words, but I cannot show you step by step how to chant it and do the ritual. But I will tell you everything you need to do. And you must listen carefully, because if you do it incorrectly you could kill yourself."

Andy swallowed but then nodded slowly. Shaka released the book finally and sighed. "We should go over it now. I have the impression you don't have a lot of time. Lets go outside and I will explain the ritual in detail. I've also marked the place where the ritual is in that book," he said, pointing.

Andy saw a small clip attached to one of the pages in the book. He opened to it and saw the words _**Ritual of the Lost Soul. **_The rest of the words were in a different language of some sort. This would definitely be more difficult than he thought, but he had no choice. This wasn't just for his own survival, but for the people he cared about the countless lives that Chucky took, and ones he would take if he wasn't stopped.

They all walked out by the trees. It was getting darker and the sun was beginning to set. For a second, Andy felt at peace out there in the grass near the trees, just feeling the soft breeze blowing his short light brown hair. He had never before had a moment to just enjoy life because he was constantly living in fear; constantly living the nightmare that plagued him. Sometimes he would think: if only I hadn't gotten that good guy doll; if only I hadn't wanted it so badly this never would have happened. It's all my fault.

Now that he was older he understood it wasn't his fault. It was Chucky's. He messed with something he shouldn't have. Andy didn't wish the hell he went through with Chucky on anybody. It was up to him to stop it so no one would ever have to live his nightmare, and so he could finally be free of it.

"The first and most important thing to remember is that you will need something personal of Charles. This personal item must be attached to him at the time of chanting," Shaka emphasized. "Not only that, but you need Charles' blood as well to break his bond from the ritual. The blood that he bleeds is the blood of his soul that is bound to this ritual and in order for it to be broken his blood is needed. You don't need a lot, but you need something. Once his blood is on this personal item you must immediately start the chant. I will help you with these words so you get the pronunciation correct."

Dan and Julie both stared down at Andy. They knew this was going to be difficult. Shaka went over all the words carefully with Andy and made sure he sounded them out correctly. By the time they were done the sun was low in the horizon and it would be dark soon. Thankfully the ritual was short, but it had to be chanted three times in order to ensure that it worked.

"How are we going to get a personal items of Chucky's? I read on the file that his parents' house had been set on fire and both of his parents burned in it," Julie said.

"That's true, but I believe the house is still standing. As far as I know, it was never torn down. And it didn't burn to the ground, but it is severely damaged," Shaka said. "That happened right before Charles came to us. When he told us the story he made it seem like he was a victim, and so out of pity and sympathy we embraced him because he had no where to go. And then one day he just disappeared and we never heard from him again. You may still find something in that old burned up house of his. I still have the address, let me go get it."

Shaka turned and left them alone. Dan had his arms crossed over his chest. "I hope this works. And unfortunately we've only got one shot. Andy, are you sure you want to do this? If anything goes wrong and something happens to you…"

Andy nodded. "I'll be fine. We have to stop him. Even if something happens to me, Chucky's going to kill me anyway. And I'd rather die trying to destroy him than let him kill me. Dying is better than him taking over my body also. I'm not even sure what would happen to my own soul if he pushed it out and took over," he said shivering. "It's better this way. I'm glad he lost his chance at trying to take over me."

Kyle hugged him tightly. "It's ok. We'll all be there with you to make sure we do this right. We just need to keep Chucky distracted while Andy does the ritual."

"Well first we have to find a personal item," Dan said. "Then we have to worry about finding Chucky."

"I don't think that part will be hard. I'm sure he's looking for Andy as we speak," Julie said, glancing down at him.

Andy nodded. "Yeah. I don't know if Chucky would try attacking at a police station when there are a lot more people to deal with. I was thinking that…Chucky probably heard about the hearing and maybe even read Shalice's article. If that's true, if he knows my name is clear then he'll probably think I'll be sent back to the orphanage, since I have no foster family anymore."

"That's true," Julie said. "Perhaps there's a way to trick him! Set up a trap."

"How?" Dan asked.

"Well, if Chucky knows about Andy getting his name cleared, and also knows that Kyle testified and knows she's back in town, he might actually expect that Kyle would now take care of Andy," Julie said.

"Of course!" Kyle intervened. "If I pretend to adopt Andy, then Chucky would come looking for us wherever we told Mrs. Malkum we'd be. I could give her a fake address, someplace where we can fight him without any innocent people getting involved."

"Actually, I hate to bring this up, Andy, especially considering what happened," Julie said, glancing at him. "But it might actually be a good idea to lure Chucky to the Jacques' house. After all, it's still been sealed off, and you are in their will to inherit their estate so I'm sure Chucky would realize you and Kyle would go there."

Andy's face paled and he looked down. Dan slowly bent down to him.

"Hey, don't worry. The…I mean your foster family isn't there. The place has been cleaned up."

Andy appreciated that Dan didn't use the words "the dead bodies are all cleaned up". Slowly, he nodded.

"You're right. Chucky would look for us there. And if we tell Mrs. Malkum that since I inherited the place we're going there, she would believe it and so would Chucky."

"Excellent, so we have a plan. Now we just need a personal item," Julie said. "We're going to do this, Andy. I know we can."

Silently, Andy was dreading this. He knew this moment would come, and he was just hoping the Jacques' estate wouldn't turn into another bloodbath. He prayed that they would all come through all right and that Chucky would be defeated for good.

Shaka came back with the address and they took off right away. Chucky's old home was unfortunately in a different state. He was from Illinois, somewhere in the country region. And it was in Chicago, Illinois where Detective Mike Norris had shot Chucky and almost defeated him. Dan was able to book a flight immediately for that night and they rushed to the airport to catch it. He left the car there in the overnight parking lot. Dan bought them food and drinks while in the airport before boarding the plane.

On the plane, Andy was so exhausted that he fell asleep and didn't wake up until Kyle shook him. They got off the plane in the middle of the night and took a cab to a hotel to stay in. It was only a two bedroom so Julie and Kyle shared a bed, and Dan and Andy shared a bed. They woke up early the next morning and took the directions to Chucky's old house. Dan rented a car and due to being a detective got a rental instantly and at a reduced price. He stopped by a gas station to fill it up and then at a McDonalds for their breakfast. They ate in the car while driving to Chucky's.

Chucky's house was located off of Crystal Lake, Illinois. It was a small house, somewhat isolated by itself near the water. As they pulled up, they noticed it was in terrible condition. It was technically still standing, but the whole outside was burnt and windows were shattered, pieces of the house were falling off. Andy was surprised no body had torn it down to rebuild something new.

"Ok, now everyone be careful. This place could probably fall to pieces at any moment," Dan said.

"Yeah," Kyle said, gripping Andy's hand. "Let's be careful."

They slowly approached the house and Andy started getting goosebumps just thinking about Chucky. Dan was the first one to enter and all he did was push on the door a little and slip inside. Julie followed and then Kyle and Andy. The place was definitely in bad condition. There was ash on the floor as well as burn marks all over the place. They could barely make out what used to be a couch. Most of the furniture had been destroyed, but there were pieces of a chair and table lying in the middle of the room. There didn't appear to be any picture frames anywhere. Andy noticed there was a flight of charred stairs.

"Chucky's room was probably up there," he said, pointing.

"Ok, well let me go first," Dan said.

As he stepped on the bottom step they heard a loud creak. Dan's foot wavered and he quickly took it off. He skipped the bottom step and tried the second step, which thankfully held his weight. They all followed in turn and Kyle made sure not to let Andy's hand go. The stairs creaked beneath them, but didn't give. The upstairs wasn't as bad as the downstairs, which meant the fire probably started down stairs. There were only two bedrooms upstairs and one small bathroom. Dan decided to look in the bathroom and Julie went into one bedroom.

Kyle and Andy went into the other bedroom. Some things had been torched, but the firefighters had probably gotten there before the upstairs was burnt to a crisp. The bed was still standing. And while the sheets were burnt somewhat they could tell they had been blue. There didn't appear to be a lot of belongings in the room, beside the bed and some random items in the closet. Kyle went to the closet but Andy decided to check out the small bureau beside the bed. He opened it and found it empty. Andy frowned but then he looked at the bed. Sometimes when he didn't want his mom to find his snacks that he would eat in bed after dinner, junk food of course, he would hide them under the bed.

Andy lifted the sheets and slowly tried to lift up part of the mattress. He peered underneath, but couldn't see all the way under since he couldn't lift it up all the way. He put it down and went to the other side of the mattress and did the same thing. Andy held it up with his shoulder and reached his arm as far under as he could go. He moved his hand around and suddenly hit something hard. He winced and pulled back his hand. There was a small cut on his finger and it was bleeding very minimally.

"Hey Kyle there's something under here, can you help me."

Kyle walked over to him and held the mattress up for him. Andy then saw something metal and reached for it. He pulled out a small knife. The handle was perfectly in tact – no burn marks. It was a dark brown color and the blade was smooth and clean. What got Andy's attention the most were the initials carved into the handle probably with another knife or sharp object: C.L.R.

"This is it! These are his initials!" Andy exclaimed.

"Alright Andy! You did it!" Kyle said, bending down to examine it. "That's a nice knife too. I wonder why he'd just leave it here."

"Maybe he forgot about it," Andy said, shrugging.

"Dan! Julie! We found it!" Kyle shouted.

The two detectives came into the room and saw the knife.

"It has Chucky's initials on it. He definitely used it so it's got to be a personal item."

"If he carved his initials in it it's definitely a personal item. Good work Andy!" Dan exclaimed, patting him on the back. "Lets get out of this place."

All of them carefully went back down the stairs. Dan went first and he helped Andy down so he wouldn't touch the bottom step. Then he helped Julie and Kyle. They all got into the rental car and drove to the airport. On the way, Dan called in a favor and got them a ticket back to Connecticut where the orphanage was and where Chucky was currently, somewhere. When they got to the airport, they rushed to their gate. Andy was so nervous he couldn't rest on the plane. When they landed, they hurried to get to the overnight parking lot to pick up Dan's car. They all jumped in and drove off toward the orphanage.

The orphanage wasn't too far away – it was only about 20 minutes from the police station. When they arrived it was approaching late afternoon. As planned, Kyle and Andy walked up holding hands alongside Dan and Julie. The door was opened by another assistant and she directed them to Mrs. Malkum's office. Mrs. Malkum looked up at them and instantly recognized Andy.

"Andy! My gosh, are you alright? I heard about the hearing! I'm so glad your name was cleared, but I didn't realize you were a victim of so many mur…." She stopped speaking, realizing she was on a touchy subject. "Nevermind, I'm glad to see you're alright. What's going on?"

"Mrs. Malkum, I'm detective Dan Traver and this is detective Julie Larkspar. We were assisting with the Jacques' murder case."

Mrs. Malkum inhaled deeply and clutched her chest. "Yes, I'm still not over that. Have you found the culprit?"

"We're in hot pursuit, ma'am. We needed Andy because he was a witness and we've been protecting him. This is Kyle – an older foster sister of his. They were together at their last foster family. I believe it is in Andy's best interest to be under Kyle's care until we locate his mother and sort out the custody. Until that time, we wanted you to be aware that Andy is going to be adopted by Kyle, as in she will be his guardian for the time being. Since Andy has inherited the Jacques' estate, we will be taking them back there. We will of course send you the paperwork when we get a chance," Dan added.

Mrs. Malkum nodded her head slowly. "Yes, of course, I understand. I have the Jacques' address here so I'll know Andy is in case his mother tries to contact him here."

"That would be greatly appreciated," Dan said, nodding.

They said goodbye and they drove away toward the Jacques' estate. Andy's heart was pounding so loud in his ears that he barely heard Kyle speaking to him.

"It'll be ok, Andy; it's almost over."

Andy inhaled a shaky breath. "I just hope Chucky doesn't kill us all."

"Don't worry, we have a solid plan and we'll go over it while we're there. Remember, we've got to lure him to the garage so that he'll be trapped there and won't be able to escape," Dan said.

"Yes, and we've got guns. You said he's more vulnerable now that he's trapped in the doll's body so the guns should have more of an effect," Julie said.

Kyle nodded. "Yes, and I'll be there to protect you. So don't worry. Just concentrate on doing the ritual."

"What about needing his blood?" Julie asked.

"I've got an idea," Kyle said. She explained her idea and they all agreed it was their best bet.

**XXXXXXXX**

Without warning, the lights went out. Mrs. Malkum glanced up from her desk in shock. Cursing, she grabbed an emergency candle out of her desk drawer and lit it. A knock came to the door and Mrs. Malkum hesitated before approaching the door. It was getting late, already past 8 o'clock.

She opened the door and yelled in surprise when something smacked her in the face, knocking her backward. The candle fell but thankfully just burnt out. It left her in total darkness. She scrambled to get up and picked up the tree branch that had been swung at her.

"Who's there? I'll call the police!"

Suddenly, she was tripped and she felt something climb up on her. She tried to scream but something resembling a hand came over her mouth. Then she felt something at her throat and knew it was a weapon.

"I don't have time for games. I need to know where Andy Barclay is. If you don't tell me I'll kill you and find out anyway."

"N-n-no please don't. I-i- h-he was adopted by a girl named Kyle who left with him only hours ago," she stammered.

"Kyle did? Hmm, interesting. Where did they go?"

"T-they went to the J-Jacques' estate, Andy's –"

"Yes, I know who they are and where their house is," the cold voice said.

"P-please don't hurt me. I won't call the police."

She heard a high-pitched laugh and something struck her in the head. She fell back unconscious and Chucky stared down at her.

"Just to make sure of that," he said. "You're lucky I don't have time to kill you right now. I need to save that for Andy."

Chucky left Mrs. Malkum lying there and went back out the front door, closing it behind him. The Jacques' estate wasn't too far, maybe a couple of miles. He had no choice but to run on foot. He ran as fast as he could, feeling the weight of the knife in the overalls. He passed by the park where he had a run-in with Andy and slashed his back. Laughing coldly, Chucky remembered how wonderful it felt to pay back that fucking brat for making things difficult.

Andy was going to pay dearly…Chucky would make sure he watched all of his close friends die first. Then when Andy was finally alone, he was going to make the boy scream and cry for mercy before he finally ended his pathetic life. Just thinking about seeing Andy screaming and his blood pouring out heightened his adrenaline, or what he thought was still his adrenaline. That feeling of excitement returned and Chucky sneered maliciously as he saw the Jacques' estate not too far ahead of him. The house wasn't completely dark; there was one light on in the living room. Chucky peered in through the window and saw Kyle – that blonde-haired bitch – sitting on the couch reading. That meant Andy was probably upstairs in his nice cozy bed, sleeping so innocently. This would be a piece of cake.

Chuck climbed up the side of the house where there was a vine and slowly made his way to one of the top story windows. He opened it and climbed inside. It was dark and the room looked to be a playroom. Coming out of the room, he crept down the hall and saw one door that was partly open. He slipped inside and saw a bed in the far corner. As he approached, there definitely seemed to be a lump beneath the covers. Chucky felt a thrill of excitement as he climbed up on the bed and pulled out the knife. He was about the stab the lump, but decided he wanted to see Andy's scared face right before he killed him. So he reached toward the lamp and quickly turned it on then ripped the covers off.

"Hello spo—" Chucky was cut off as he stared at two large pillows instead of Andy.

"That fucking brat!" Chucky said as his unnaturally plastic blue eyes narrowed with fury. "He was expecting me. That stupid, fucking, son-of-a-bitch!"

As Chucky snarled the words his hand flew back and accidentally hit the lamp. It fell over and the plug was ripped from the outlet seconds before it crashed to the floor.

"Well, fuck," Chucky said.

**XXXXXXXX**

The crash that sounded upstairs made Kyle jump to her feet. Chucky had found them. She couldn't believe it; she didn't want to believe it, but it was happening. This was it. The moment they had been waiting for. She couldn't let Andy down now. She picked up the baseball bat to use as her weapon, praying that Chuck didn't have a gun or something with him. She waited for him to come down those steps. She knew the plan and she knew she was bait.

There were footsteps scurrying upstairs. Kyle's heart pounded as she heard them on the steps. She was far enough away that Chucky couldn't attack her from the stairs. Suddenly, that face that had haunted her nightmares on occasion showed its plastic face. Chucky caught sight of her and sneered maliciously – a look that seemed even more terrifying on a doll's face.

"Well, well, the bitch is back," Chucky said. "Where's the kid?"

"Like hell I would tell you! He's not even here!"

"Bullshit! That's not what Mrs. Malkum said," Chucky said, dropping down off the stairs.

Kyle's eyes widened. "You didn't…"

"Kill her? No, I didn't have time. But she told me you took the little brat here. And if I have to kill you to get to him," Chucky said slowly as his eyes narrowed, "I will."

"Andy run!" Kyle screamed.

Chucky's head snapped in the other direction long enough for Kyle to take off in the opposite direction.

"Fuck! You bitch!" Chucky snapped.

Kyle ran toward the garage as planned. She knew Chucky wasn't far behind her. For a doll, he could run extremely fast and he was strong too – just like a man, only not in a man's body. She ran and hurled herself at the garage door. She slammed it closed behind her and locked it, backing up with her baseball bat. She had to keep him distracted. Chucky banged on the door over and over again. Then the sound stopped. Suddenly, the doorknob was rattling. Chucky was trying to pick the lock!

Kyle ran to the far end of the garage and ducked down. The door flung open and Kyle hid herself, but peered out through a crack in the box she was hiding behind. She hoped this plan worked. If not, they were all dead! Chucky entered and looked around. The garage door was closed so Chucky knew they hadn't escaped.

"I don't have time for hide and seek, bitch. Where's Andy?"

Chucky glanced at the car and Kyle's heart almost fell out of her chest. Chucky kept his knife firmly in hand as he rushed toward the car.

"Hey!" Kyle shouted, jumping out from behind the box.

Chucky wheeled around toward her and sneered. "I should've killed you a long time ago, back when you helped Andy the first time."

"Do you really think I'd lead you to him?" Kyle spat out, keeping her bat ready.

Chucky's eyes glanced toward the car again and his mouth widened even further. He had probably realized that she jumped out as he was approaching the car. Chucky lunged up onto the car.

"NO!" Kyle screamed.

Chucky's face appeared in the back window and Andy's eyes widened with fear as he saw Chucky for the first time in a while. Chucky's eyes narrowed and his mouth curled into a wider smile.

"There you are sport."

Chucky took the knife and smashed it toward the window. Andy let out a scream and threw himself up front. As Chucky smashed the entire window, Andy jumped out of the car and ran to the other side of the room. He was close to the door but knew Chucky would attack Kyle the moment he tried to escape. And this was no time for escaping. He had to finish this.

"Andy!" Kyle screamed, inching away from the car. "Andy, come on, run to me!"

Andy backed away up against a box and stared at the car. Chucky was hiding behind it somewhere and would jump out any second. Suddenly, a trash can came pelting over the car at Kyle. She screamed and dodged it, but the second she was distracted Chucky came sprinting toward Andy.

"KYLE!" Andy screamed, stumbling backward.

"Come here sport! You've got a date with death!" Chucky screamed, laughing hysterically.

"Hey you big piece of plastic shit!" Kyle screamed. She clicked the gun in her hand and Chucky, only a foot away from Andy stopped and turned at the sound.

Andy was backed into a corner and he secretly gripped the handle of Chucky's knife hidden in his pocket. Chucky laughed hysterically and turned his attention on Kyle.

"You think that gun is going to do anything to me," he said coldly. "If I have to take care of you first, I will, but you're not ruining my chances of killing Andy this time bitch."

"Why don't you come and get me then," she said aiming the gun at him.

Andy pulled out the knife as Chucky was distracted. He began inching close to Chucky as Kyle distracted him.

Chucky turned toward Andy, but Kyle shot him in the leg. Chucky screamed furiously and stumbled down.

"You bitch! You fucking bitch!"

As Chucky struggled back up to his feet Andy lunged from behind him and stabbed the knife straight through the middle of his back. Blood poured out as Chucky screamed and wheeled his arm around. Andy cried out in pain as Chucky's knife sliced across his cheek, making a painful but not deep cut. Andy struggled to his feet and backed away.

"You fucking brat!" Chucky screamed out in anger.

Kyle fired again at him and hit his leg again, making Chucky falter so he couldn't lunge at Andy. Pulling the ritual book out of his pocket, Andy flipped to the page.

"Laver merci au dupuan shione," Andy shouted as Chucky stared up at him in astonishment. "Give me the power I beg of you!"

"What the fuck are you doing?" Chucky snapped. "You really think you can use the same spell I used to get inside this body!" he laughed coldly. "You stupid brat!"

"Yaone eh puah de morte, traaen vertae eh shione!" Andy shouted.

Thunder crackled from somewhere outside and Andy knew the ritual had begun. Chucky's eyes narrowed when he realized it was not the same ritual he had used.

"What the fuck are you messing with you fucking brat? You think you can use voodoo magic on me?"

Kyle fired more shots at Chucky and he rolled out of the way. He still wasn't that far from where Andy was so he had to chant quickly.

"Laver et viday de morte, dupah le vide eh soule," Andy continued to shout as practiced.

Andy was breathing heavily and trying to calm his racing heart. The first step of the plan was done and now it was up to him to complete the ritual. There were two more lines to say to complete the ritual and then he had to say it two more times.

"Soule de morte eh laseh el gravea," Andy shouted, as his heart pounded even faster.

"Keep going Andy, I'll hold him off!" Kyle shouted.

Chucky vanished behind the car again and Kyle kept the gun steady, waiting for him. Unexpectedly, Chucky threw something else at her and as she dodged it she lowered the gun and Chucky lunged at her from atop the car. Kyle screamed as the gun was thrown from her hands and she fell backward. She managed to grab the bat in time to block Chucky's attack. He tried to stab her with the knife but she had blocked it with the bat. Chucky pulled the knife out of the bat and Kyle rolled over out of his way before he sliced her arm.

"Shione merci ah truone la chea," Andy shouted, breathing deeply.

Chucky lunged at Kyle knocking the bat from her hands. Kyle's eyes widened.

"Die bitch!"

"Traey el soule de morte eh fin."

Chucky screamed in pain as he was inches away from stabbing Kyle in the chest.

"What the fuck are you doing to me?" Chucky screamed in fury. "Goddamn it that fucking hurts!"

Kyle attempted to stand up but Chucky grabbed the bat and swung it at her. Kyle covered her face but it threw her off her feet.

"KYLE!" Andy screamed.

Chucky's furious eyes landed on Andy and he could see the murderous intent behind them. Andy's eyes widened but before Chucky could run at him more shots fired at him. Chucky screamed as he fell down from the gunshots. Both Dan and Julie came from their hiding spot behind the boxes. Chucky glared up at them.

"You son-of-a-bitch I'll kill you all!"

"You can do it, Andy! We'll hold him off!" Julie exclaimed.

"Yaone eh puah de morte, traaen vertae eh shione," Andy began again. "Laver et viday de morte, dupah le vide eh soule."

Chucky suddenly rolled out of the way and vanished behind some boxes. Both Dan and Julie approached the boxes to corner him and Dan was suddenly hit in the chest with a shovel. Dan flew backward and landed on the ground, groaning in pain and unable to get up. Julie fired shots from the direction it came from.

Andy fought the urge to go help them and continued chanting. "Soule de morte eh laseh el gravea, shione merci ah truone la chea!"

Andy inhaled to repeat the final line the second time and suddenly something struck him from behind. Andy screamed and stumbled over, thankfully not hitting his head on the ground as he rolled. Chucky had thrown a trashcan at his back which had knocked him down. Chucky jumped from behind the boxes.

The ritual book had been thrown from his hands and Andy scrambled to pick it back up. "Traey el soule de morte eh fin!" Andy shouted, his voice becoming scratchy.

Chucky screamed out in pain half way from reaching him. Andy's eyes widened as he saw something glowing from Chucky's back. It had to have been the knife. Chucky glanced down at his hands and his plastic blue eyes widened. Andy realized what he was so shocked about. His plastic hands were beginning to disintegrate – almost as if he was being slowly burned from the inside out. Chucky's whole face contorted into fury and he screamed with such anger and ferocity that Andy backed up.

"ANDY!" Julie shouted, jumping over Dan to try to get to him. Chucky picked up a wrench that had spilt from one of the boxes tumbling over.

"Julie, look out!" Andy screamed.

The wrench pelted toward her and Julie dived out of the way, tumbling into some boxes. Chucky stalked toward him, his hands burning before him. Andy almost lost his concentration. He thankfully caught himself before he stuttered the first part of the ritual.

"Yaone eh puah de morte –"

"No you don't you fucking brat!"

Chucky hurled his knife at Andy who tried to dodge it but it went straight through his shoulder.

Andy screamed in pain but forced out the words: "traaen…vertae eh shione!"

Chucky screamed in pain as his legs began to disintegrate, but he still kept on approaching.

Andy's shoulder was throbbing and he could feel his blood soaking his shirt.

"Laver et…viday de morte…," Andy struggled to get out, making sure to pronounce each word carefully. He couldn't do the ritual too fast for fear that he would mispronounce something and ruin their chances of ever defeating Chucky.

"I'm going to kill you, Andy," Chucky said in a raspy voice. "I'm going to make you scream in pain as all your blood pours out!"

Andy struggled to scoot backward until his back hit the car. He was trembling he was so terrified.

"Dupah le vide…eh soule!"

Chucky screamed again in pain and Andy watched in horror as his whole body began to glow. One of Chucky's eyes began to deteriorate and his one good eye stared at Andy with hunger. Chucky lunged toward him and pushed the knife further into his shoulder. Andy screamed in pain and felt his whole body shake as Chucky's disintegrating face came up to his.

"If I'm going…you're coming with me!"

Andy felt his eyes well up with tears as the pain and fear grew. Chucky ripped the knife out of Andy's shoulder and he screamed with pain again. Andy had but a second to stare in horror as Chucky raised the knife over him and came down. A shot was fired right in Chucky's arm and he yelled in pain and dropped the knife inches before it reached Andy's face.

"Soule de morte…eh laseh…el gravea," Andy fought to get out as tears of pain streamed down his face. He was holding the book shakily in his good arm, but the pain was so intense now that he could barely focus.

Chucky's face, legs and arms were deteriorating and he glanced down at the knife, but Andy kicked the knife under the car. Another shot was fired and Chucky screamed as it went through his deteriorating leg which crumbled beneath him.

Andy was breathing shallowly and his face had perspiration on it both from exertion of the ritual, and from the intense pain of his wound. He swallowed and even though his body was trembling, he fought to keep his voice steady.

"Shione…," Andy hesitated and swallowed. "Merci…ah truone la…chea," he said. His voice was becoming softer as the pain and exhaustion were getting to him. He was still managing to hold the book. He glanced down at the last line that he had to say. Just one more line and it was all over.

The book was suddenly kicked from his hands and flew across the garage. Andy's eyes widened as Chucky lunged at him and grabbed him by the throat, cutting off his air supply. Most of Chucky's face had been eaten away except half of one eyeball and part of his mouth. His hands were all charred and they burned Andy's skin as they wrapped around his throat. Andy's scream was cut off as Chucky choked him.

"You…fucking….brat…I will…make sure….you die!"

With that Chucky shook Andy's head and banged it against the car. The room suddenly became dizzy and all the air was out of his lungs. His lungs were burning so bad and he fought to breathe.

"Finally….finally…you will…die," Chucky said, letting loose a raspy maniacal laugh.

"Get the fuck away from him!"

Kyle fired a shot a Chucky right in his arms. Chucky screamed in pain and Andy gasped and coughed for air as his throat was released. Andy gasped for air and stared over at Kyle who had blood on her shirt and a cut on her head that was bleeding, but she stood strong nonetheless. Kyle's eyes widened when she saw the book a distance away. She hurriedly crawled to it. Chucky's gaze landed on Andy as he struggled to get move his disintegrating legs toward him. He reached out his arms. Kyle struggled to get under the car in order to retrieve the book.

"It's over, Andy." Chucky approached him, eyes glowing brightly, hands outstretched toward Andy's throat ready to break it.

Andy swallowed and took in one last breath. "Traey," he said firmly as Chucky's one eye widened in shock, "el soule de morte," he said as Chucky screamed in fury.

"NOOOOOO!" Chucky screamed. "AHHHH GOD! IT HURTS! YOU FUCKING-"

Chucky threw himself toward him. Andy opened his mouth just as Chucky lunged at his throat: "eh fin!"

Chucky's scream echoed throughout the garage. Andy sat back with wide eyes, watching as Chucky's body began to disintegrate completely. In less than a minute, Chucky's entire body stopped glowing and suddenly burst into a pile of ash. Very slowly the ash vanished into the air leaving only Chucky's bloodied knife on the ground. Andy collapsed back against the car in shock and exhaustion. Kyle came rushing over to him and helped him up. She ran to get some damp clothes to control the bleeding in his arm. Andy was so exhausted he blacked out.

It wasn't until sometime later that he woke up in the hospital. He had to get fifteen stitches and Kyle had to get five on her head. Dan had a broken rib and would take time to heal. Julie was alright except for some scrapes and bruises. Although they were beaten up, they had all survived.

**XXXXXXXX**

_Three days later…_

Andy got out of the car with Kyle and stared at the Jacques' estate. Although he had inherited this home, he didn't think he could live in it without a family. Kyle couldn't really adopt him. She didn't have the money or the time while in college to look after him. She had taken time off school to help testify for him and gotten excused from classes, but she had to go back soon because her new semester would start in just a few days. And Andy…where would he go? Would he have to go back to the orphanage? He didn't want to go back there after everything.

"Kyle, why are we here?" Andy asked, after they got out.

She smiled at him. "You'll see. Now come on."

Andy noticed that there was another car there.

"Who's here?" Andy asked.

Kyle grabbed his hand and led him toward the door. "Remember I told you I talked to Dan and Julie recently. And they said they had a surprise for you."

Andy smiled at the mention of the two detectives who had helped him defeat Chucky. It had been sad to say goodbye to them, but they told him they'd keep in touch to make sure he was doing alright.

"Yeah, you did say that," Andy said, as they walked through the front door. "But what kind of surp-"

Andy's words froze in his mouth as the figure in front of him turned. Karen Barclay stood before him and covered her mouth when she saw him. Tears welled up in her eyes and soon began streaming down her face.

"Andy! Oh, Andy!"

"Mom!" Andy shouted as he raced toward her.

His mom embraced him tightly and Andy began to cry. He didn't ever think his nightmare would be over; and he never dreamed he'd ever see his mom again.

"Oh, Andy, honey, I'm so proud of you," Karen said, pushing his bangs back from his face. "I heard you were so brave and you finally defeated that demonic doll," she said angrily.

Taking a deep breath, she shook her head. "I'm sorry, let's never talk about that again. I missed you so much!"

"I missed you too, mom! I never though I'd see you again! And I thought the courts wouldn't let you be with me!" Andy said, wiping at his eyes.

"Everything's cleared up now, honey," she said, wiping at his eyes. "After your hearing, the courts overruled my sentence and my guardianship of you has been restored. I wouldn't have known where you were though if I hadn't gotten a call from two very nice detectives."

Andy smiled and hugged his mom tightly. "I can't believe this is really happening!"

Kyle smiled and approached them. "Well, it is. And there's one more surprise."

Andy looked up at her. "Really? What?" he asked in excitement.

Karen smiled at Kyle. "Well, you and I are going to be living here together in this lovely home that the Jacques' left for you. You can start up school again and we can be a family again."

"Really?" Andy shouted.

"Yes, really! The paperwork's all been done and everything!" Karen said, laughing as Andy jumped into her embrace.

"Not only that, but I plan on visiting you during my holidays and breaks, so you better have time for me," Kyle said, winking.

"I will, I will!" Andy exclaimed as he ran toward Kyle.

She laughed as he ran into her arms. Hugging him tightly, she bent down and kissed his forehead.

"I told you everything would work out ok. Now, I have to go catch my flight soon to go back to school, but promise me we can talk every weekend until I have another break."

"Yes, definitely!" Andy exclaimed, hugging her again.

"I'll miss you, Andy. But I'm just a phone call away."

Kyle kissed his cheek and gave Karen a hug before she went on her way. Andy was left with his mom and the two of them walked into the kitchen together. Karen made them hot chocolate, which they took to the patio to sit outside in the nice, warm sun.

"So, Andy, I want to hear everything I missed. Only the good stuff of course," she said, smiling.

"I will, but…were you ok there in that place?" Andy asked hesitantly.

Karen tilted her head and reached out a hand to place on his cheek. "Don't worry about me, Andy. Two years in that institution was nothing. What kept me going was thinking about you. And they didn't treat me horribly. You had a way worse time than I did, sweetie, but I knew you were strong. Even when you were little you were so strong," she said, smiling. "I was scared for you. I wanted to be there to protect you, but I couldn't. But you know what," she said, wrapping an arm around him. "It turned out alright. You had people looking after you and I'm so grateful for that."

Andy smiled and leaned his head on her shoulder. "I'm grateful for that too."

They sat there in the beautiful spring evening together, relishing in the fact that the nightmare was over. They had both survived it and had been reunited. Most importantly, Chucky was finally gone now, forever.

**THE END**

Story Note:  For the _**Ritual of the Lost Soul**_, I just made up those words, by the way. They're complete gibberish. :-)

Author's Note:  Wow, it's been forever-and-a-half! I want to thank all of you for being so patient with me! School and work have consumed my life so I had to put this story on hiatus. But I never leave stories unfinished – not ones I intend to finish anyway. So here is the last chapter, I hope you all enjoyed it!

**To Reviewers:**

**MarcFirewing****:** Thanks a lot! I'm sorry it took so long to finish! You've never seen a Child's Play movie? You should watch it! It is very creepy, lol! Actually, they're remaking the first movie with all new special effects with the same guy who played Chucky's voice in the original movies. I think it either comes out sometime in 2011 or 2012, I'm not sure. But you should see it when it comes out!

**SlothKeeper**: I know! And I promised I wasn't giving up on it! It just took way longer than expected to update it! I'm so sorry! Well, at least it's finished now, lol! Thank you so much for that! I'm so glad you think it's better than the 3rd movie! Yeah, I was really disappointed in the third movie. But hopefully the remake of the first movie will be really good when it comes out! :-)

**Sheetamoon**: Awww, thanks so much! Yeah, I was really disappointed in all of the Child's Play movies after the first and second. That's why I just had to write this story, lol! Yeah I definitely wouldn't include any of those weird movies like Seed of Chucky. But hopefully the remake of the first movie will be really good once it comes out! It was my favorite one! :-)


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